The success of the practitioners’ partnership comes from the careful planning and implementation of the hospitalist program. Develop an integrated delivery system that is complete with policies, procedures, and protocols, assigning responsibilities to each side of process.

Single specialty hospitals are not more cost efficient than their competing full-service hospitals, according to a recent study, “Specialty and Full-Service Hospitals: A Comparative Cost Analysis,” published in Health Services Research.

The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and National Palliative Care Research Center released a state-by-state report card last week, grading the level of patient and physician access to palliative programs—a specialty that aims to improve quality of life for those with serious and chronic illness and their family members. The study examined patient access to services in hospitals and board-certified palliative medicine physicians, as well as medical student access to clinical training and physician access to specialty-level training for palliative medicine.