Around the world, there is an increasing need for more efficiency in healthcare alongside cost containment. Internal medicine physicians are in a pivotal position in this regard. In many countries, they act as bridges between ambulatory/continuity of care systems and hospital-based intensive care and sophisticated therapies. Within the medical field, they often bridge gaps between many speciali...

BACKGROUND The long-standing and ongoing controversy regarding administration of analgesia to patients with acute abdominal pain prior to final diagnosis has not yet been resolved, despite considerable research. Consequently, wide variations in clinical practice exist. OBJECTIVES To determine the motives, attitudes and practices of emergency physicians, internists and surgeons in Israeli emer...

The authors discuss the pros and cons with regard to ultrasound for the internist. They state that ultrasonography is seldom used by internists and they suggest several reasons for this. After a brief review of the literature they conclude that using ultrasound would probably benefit patients and would lead to a more rapid diagnosis and an increase in safety while performing invasive diagnostic...

PURPOSE To demonstrate the importance of collaboration between ophthalmologists and internists. DESIGN Cryoglobulinemia is a systemic vascularite. Ophthalmologic complications are rare and not well known. Purtscher-like retinopathy may occur in this context. CASE REPORT We report the case of a patient who presented a severe visual loss in the course of a hepatitis C. The ophthalmic examinat...

UNLABELLED BACKGROUND The increasing demand for acute care and restructuring of hospitals resulting in emergency department (ED) closures and fewer inpatient beds are reasons to improve ED efficiency. The approach towards the patient care process varies among doctors. The objective of this study was to determine variations in the patient care process and patient flow among emergency physicia...