Automating and estimating glomerular filtration rate for dosing medications and staging chronic kidney disease.

Objective: The purpose of this paper is to serve as a review for primary care providers on the bedside methods for estimating glomerular filtration rate (GFR) for dosing and chronic kidney disease (CKD) staging and to discuss how automated health information technologies (HIT) can enhance clinical documentation of staging and reduce medication errors in patients with CKD.

Methods: A nonsystematic search of PubMed (through March 2013) was conducted to determine the optimal approach to estimate GFR for dosing and CKD staging and to identify examples of how automated HITs can improve health outcomes in patients with CKD. Papers known to the authors were included, as were scientific statements.

Impact of 4 + 1 block scheduling on patient care continuity in resident clinic.

Background: Leaders in medical education have called for redesign of internal medicine training to improve ambulatory care training. 4 + 1 block scheduling is one innovative approach to enhance ambulatory education.

Aim: To determine the impact of 4 + 1 scheduling on resident clinic continuity.