Welcome to Inpatient!
Welcome to the Family Medicine Inpatient Service! The inpatient month is a very busy month but will go far in preparing you for your career in family medicine. Even those who do not plan on practicing inpatient medicine will find this a valuable experience. Many of the pathologies we care for in the inpatient service are the same exact pathologies you will care for in your practice (diabetes, CHF, CKD, HTN, Infectious Disease). You will feel very comfortable with your CHF patient coming in with mild fluid overload after caring for a patient in florid heart failure in the hospital!
The next month will be challenging at times but you are not alone. The attendings, nurses, case managers, and fellow residents are all here to work together to provide the best care possible for our patients. Never hesitate to ask questions or to seek assistance. As a team we will provide great care to our patients and help each other achieve our individual learning goals. The attendings are happy to have you join us for the month!
Prior to the start of the month, please review the goals and objectives for residents and AIs along with reviewing the expectations below. After reviewing, please complete the Family Medicine Impairment Quiz and the Supervision Quiz. As always, please contact any of the attendings if you have any questions!
Expectations
Useful Links
Outpatient Phone Calls
Starting in the second year of residency, residents cover the outpatient offices for the department overnight (10 pm-8 am Monday-Friday; 5 pm-8 am Saturday and Sunday). Below are resources to assist you. Remember, when in doubt, call the inpatient attending on call for assistance.
Transfer or Direct Admissions
Occasionally an attending or an outside hospital will call for a direct admission or transfer. Many of these calls will go through our One Call Service (585-BEDS), a service that can significantly streamline the process. As of 9/1/2014, we will accept transfers for patients whose primary care physician is a family doctor in Hamilton County (see list). If a patient falls outside of the list, please inform BEDS that the Geriatric Service would be the admitting provider and to contact the Geriatrician on call. If we are the correct service, please direct the call to the attending on call and do not accept any patients for transfer or direct admissions. While we will likely accept the patient, the process requires our direct involvement and should fully be handled at an attending level. Please contact one of us with any questions concerning this policy.
Admission Guidelines
The Family Medicine service covers all family physicians located in Hamilton County, all family physicians in the U.C. Department of Family and Community Medicine (Including those at University Pointe: Dr. Singh, Dr. Gebhardt, Dr. Ushupon), the FQHCs in Cincinnati, and Dr. Bullard. This list is an attempt to make it easier to identify who these physicians are, but most certainly has some omissions If you find a family physician who is located in Hamilton County not included on this list, please add it to the Evernote Notebook (type it in the note with the list). The Geriatric Service covers any of our overflow patients, and should be contacted if the ED or ICU calls a patient into us incorrectly.
On the list are also the rules for those patients who we no longer cover, but have a history with us. The general rule will be that if we have cared for the patient in the past 4 months, or 120 days, we will continue to care for that patient. When in doubt, do what is best for the patient and let us figure it out after. Thank you to everyone for all of your hard work and I appreciate your flexibility as we go through this transition.
Call Rooms
At times there can be 4+ residents and students in the hospital overnight, creating a crunch for call rooms. Please note that in addition to the call room located on the 10th floor, a call room is also available on the 8th floor (8142). Your badge will be needed to enter the area. Please notify either Dr. Mount, Dr. Rich, or Dr. Bernheisel if there are any problems with call rooms.