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Clinical Programs
Timothy J. Laing, MD
Vice Chair
Observation Cases
If one could use just two words to describe the department’s clinical
activities in the year 2006, those words would be “growth” and “planning.”
Admissions
Growth came in many forms: in the numbers of patients our faculty
saw in outpatient clinics and inpatient hospital units, in the numbers
of specialized clinics that gave our patients access to multiple
specialized faculty at once, and in the number of square feet needed to
accommodate all our patients, clinical trials, faculty and staff. But also,
growth came in the form of donated funds to create programs that
wouldn’t otherwise exist—and in our need for further such support to
innovate for the future.
The entire U-M Health System continues to experience an everburgeoning demand for patient care services of all kinds, a demand
that at times has placed strain on our people and facilities. Through
creative teamwork with the hospital administration, we have introduced
new ways of handling the constant surge, including the expansion of
our hospitalist service (see page 24).
The hiring of new faculty for this service and in other divisions
has helped us meet demand. And while the launch of several
new multidisciplinary clinics, such as those for scleroderma and
hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (see page 16), has placed increased
demands on physical space, they also ultimately increase efficiency by
allowing patients to be assessed by several specialists in one visit.
The other hallmark of this year, planning, has positioned us well for
success in 2007 and beyond. One of the largest planning efforts has
been for the opening of the Cardiovascular Center in midyear, which
will give our patients access to much of their outpatient and inpatient
care in one state-of-the-art building—while also freeing up clinic and
hospital space for other services.
Likewise, we’re planning for the move of much of our Allergy outpatient
activity to new leased space at Domino’s Farms in 2007, again giving
much-needed “breathing room” to our clinics in the Taubman Center.
Two other major planning efforts this year have involved the use of
technology to share information with other clinicians at U-M and in
the community. The Carelink system, which will allow our faculty to
order tests, procedures and medications entirely online, has begun to
be implemented in other areas of the Health System and is coming to
Internal Medicine-run inpatient units and other venues.
At the same time, our faculty have been instrumental in designing a
regional health-information network for laboratory test results, allowing
physicians outside U-M to see the results for their patients’ tests from
U-M visits and admissions, and allowing our specialists access to results
from other labs. As we plan for a future that will undoubtedly feature
more growth in all of our clinical activities, these kinds of technologyaided initiatives will be crucial to our continued success.
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Off-Site Primary Care
Off-Site Specialty Care
On-Site Primary Care
On-Site Specialty Care
Department of Internal Medicine University Hospital Admissions
17,000
13,496
14,128
14,800
15,200
16,000
1,039
15,000
575
Admissions
14,000
13,000
16,347
741
683
585
12,000
11,000
10,000
9,000
8,000
7,000
6,000
12,911
2001/02
Fiscal Year
13,445
14,225
14,459
15,308
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
Department of Internal Medicine Outpatient Office Visits
360,000
303,191
306,786
324,352
332,856
353,067
142,455
134,615
146,910
143,780
159,386
30,654
36,636
43,658
48,903
55,803
24,001
25,135
22,188
23,560
23,008
320,000
280,000
Visits
240,000
200,000
160,000
120,000
80,000
40,000
106,081
0
2001/02
Fiscal Year
110,400
111,596
116,663
114,870
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
Department of Internal Medicine Gross Professional Charges
200,000
116,552
128,219
148,016
161,491
175,884
2002/03
2003/04
2004/05
2005/06
180,000
In $ Thousands
160,000
140,000
120,000
100,000
80,000
60,000
40,000
20,000
0
2001/02
Fiscal Year
INTERNAL MEDICINE ANNUAL REPORT 2006 • 5