Description

Published in association with the American College of Physicians, this is the second edition of a comprehensive presentation of the state-of-the-art understanding of the care of patients who are admitted to a hospital. The first edition was published in 2012

Purpose

There have been extensive and fast-moving changes reflecting evidence-based medicine, quality initiatives in medicine, and the financial constraints facing inpatient care. This book provides extremely well-balanced insights into all these considerations.

Audience

The audience is every clinician who provides medical care to inpatients. While it is primarily an internal medicine book, there is significant information that applies to surgical and other specialties. The editors have brought together a cadre of experienced clinicians and educators to provide the breadth of medical care of inpatient care.

Features

The book is divided into 18 sections beginning with some basic concepts that form the basis of inpatient care, decision-making, transitioning to follow-up levels of care, the legal and ethical concepts involved in inpatient care, and professional development for practitioners. The subsequent sections discuss the medical consultation aspect of inpatient care with a section on the various diagnostic testing options and procedures involved in hospital care. These are followed by sections on various medical conditions such as endocrinology, gastroenterology, pregnancy, palliative care, etc. Each section is divided into specific topics such as antimicrobial prophylaxis in surgery, valvular heart disease, adrenal insufficiency, the suicidal patient, and the like. There are a great number of tables, figures, photomicrographs, and radiology images. The chapters on medical conditions include sections on epidemiology, evaluation, the inpatient management, risk stratification where applicable, and discharge checklists. Many chapters have "Practice Points," which are things that clinicians should remember or are memory joggers of clinical pearls. There are a significant number of references for additional readings. 

Assessment

This is an outstanding comprehensive book on hospital-level care. It covers all the basics such as how the hospitalist interacts with other specialists, presents the necessary working knowledge hospital-based clinicians should have at their fingertips, and provides an excellent reference for those conditions that are somewhat uncommon but could be encountered in a patient admitted for a more extensive workup.