Prof. Balthasar Hug, MD
Professor of Community Medicine
T +41 41 205 51 00 • Alpenquai 4, Room 13 • balthasar.hug @ unilu.ch
CV
Balthasar Hug studied medicine at the Universities of Zurich and Basel and graduated in 1990. He finished his doctorate thesis on preventive care of practicing physicians in the Basel region in 1992 and his board examinations in internal medicine in 1998. During clinical work at Basel University Hospital, he finished his executive Master of Business Administration at the University of St. Gallen in 2003 followed by projects as member of the executive board at Basel University Hospital (drug safety, IT-implementation, logistics). In 2007 he was research fellow at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA (drug and patient safety). 2010 habilitation in internal medicine at Basel University and 2011 Master of Public Health at Harvard School of Public Health, Boston, USA. Balthasar Hug is head of internal medicine at Lucerne Cantonal Hospital since 2017 and is professor of Community Health at the Faculty of Health Sciences and Medicine at the University of Lucerne. His research fields are community health, public health, patient safety, clinical decision support and health services research. With his “bridging professorship” Balthasar Hug links academic commitment at the University of Lucerne with clinical practice at the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital and contributes actively to the Joint Medical Master with the University of Zurich.
Publications
- Aerococcus urinae endocarditis – A case report. IDCases. (2024). IDCases. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.idcr.2024.e02053
- Tomaschek, R., Beeler, P. E., Grgicevic, K., Müller, L., Merlo, C., & Hug, B. L. (2024). Communication and Information Exchange Between Practices and Hospitals: a Survey Among Primary Care Practitioners in Central Switzerland. Swiss Medical Weekly.
- Furrer-Matcau, C., Sieber, C., Lehnick, D., Brand, C., & Hug, B. L. (2024). Cutaneous adverse events due to checkpoint inhibitors – a retrospective analysis at a tertiary referral hospital in Switzerland 2019-2022: Forntiers in Oncology. Forntiers in Oncology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fonc.2024.1485594
- Developing indicators for medication-related readmissions based on a Delphi consensus study. (2024). Research in Social and Administrative Pharmacy. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sapharm.2024.02.012
- Enhancing communication and care coordination: A scoping review of encounter notification systems between emergency departments and primary care providers: International Journal of Medical Informatics. (2024). International Journal of Medical Informatics. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijmedinf.2024.105579
- Vetter, L. et al. (2024). Global Scope of Practice of an APN Anesthesia: A Scoping Review. Journal of PeriAnesthesia Nursing. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jopan.2024.07.016
- Palliative care inpatients in Switzerland (2012–2021): characteristics, in-hospital mortality and avoidable admissions. (2024). BMJ Supportive & Palliative Care. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.14499441
- Ein vermeintliches schweres psychosomatisches Krankheitsbild –Fallbeschreibung einer Patientin mit Creutzfeld-Jakob-Krankheit. (2023). Swiss Med Forum, 23 (26), 1170–1171.
- Wertli, M., & Hug, B. L. (2023). Wie Qualitätsindikatoren umgesetzt werden können. Prim Hosp Care Allg Inn Med, 23 (12), 355–356.
- Boch, M., Beeler, P. E., Hug, B. L., & Bertschy, S. (2023). Coming to early conclusions during a pandemic. The Lancet Infectious Diseases. https://doi.org/https://doi.org/10.1016/S1473-3099(23)00730-2
- Prevalence and characteristics of post COVID-19 condition five months after SARS-COV-2 infection in inpatients and outpatients. (2023). European Journal of Internal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ejim.2023.07.002
- Koch, J., & Havranek, M. (2023). The Importance of Hospital Readmission Predictors across Various Patient Populations: An Umbrella Review and Synthesis across 440 Studies. Journal of Clinical Epidemiology.
- Schurter, T., Escher, M., Gachoud, D., Bednarski, P., Hug, B., Kropf, R., … Huwendiek, S. (2022). Essential steps in the development, implementation, evaluation and quality assurance of the written part of the Swiss federal licensing examination for human medicine. GMS Journal for Medical Education.
- Branca-Dragan, S., Koller, M. T., Danuser, B., Kunz, R., Steiger, J., & Hug, B. L. (2021). Evolution of disability pension after renal transplantation: methods and results of a database linkage study of the Swiss Transplant Cohort Study and Swiss Disability Insurance: Swiss Med Wkly. Swiss Med Wkly, 151. https://doi.org/10.4414/smw.2021.w30027
- A comparison of general and disease-specific machine learning models for the prediction of unplanned hospital readmissions. (2020). Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association. https://doi.org/10.1093/jamia/ocaa299
- Medical diagnoses showed low relatedness in an explorative mutual information analysis of 190,837 inpatient cases. (2019). Journal of Clinical Epidemiology. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jclinepi.2019.01.003
- Secondary use of routine data in hospitals: description of a scalable analytical platform based on a business intelligence system. (2018). JAMIA Open; JAMIA, 1 (2). https://doi.org/10.1093/jamiaopen/ooy039
- Costs versus earnings in colon surgery and coronary artery bypass grafting under a prospective payment system: Sufficient financial incentives to reduce surgical site infections? (2018). Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology, 39 (10). https://doi.org/10.1017/ice.2018.179
- The Model for End-stage Liver Disease (MELD) as a predictor of short-term mortality in Staphylococcus aureus bloodstream infection: A single-centre observational study. (2017). PLOS ONE; PLOS, 12 (4). https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0175669
- Stierli, B., Schütz, P., Christ, M., Linder, E., & Hug, B. L. (11 May 2023). Agreement and changes between emergency department diagnoses and hospital discharge diagnoses. A retrospective case study in a Swiss tertiary referral hospital (Cantonal Hospital of Lucerne). Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress, Basel.
- Vanina, F., & Hug, B. L. (2023). A case-series analysis of tuberculosis in patients treated in a Swiss tertiary-level hospital. Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress, Basel.
- Käufeler, M., Beeler, P., Gemperli, A., Merlo, C., & Hug, B. L. (2023). Communication between primary care providers and hospitals: the hospitalists’ view. Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress.
- Matcau, C., Brand, C., & Hug, B. L. (2023). Cutaneous adverse events due to Checkpoint Inhibitors – A single, retrospective analysis at the Lucerne Cantonal Hospital. Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress, Basel.
- Borges Volfzon, A., Treis, A., Havranek, M., & Hug, B. L. (2023). Facilitating the use of clinical data for research: building a data dictionary at a university-affiliated tertiary hospital in Switzerland. Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress.
- Glatt, I., Aregger, R., & Hug, B. L. (2023). Geographical variation of common illnesses in Central Switzerland – A retrospective cohort study of the relative risk for pneumonia in the Canton of Lucerne. Presented at the SGAIM Frühjahrskongress, Basel.
- Beeler, P. E., Grgicevic, K., Gemperli, A., Merlo, C., & Hug, B. (2022). Information exchange via electronic portals between practices and hospitals – a survey among primary care physicians in Central Switzerland. Presented at the WONCA Europe Conference, London, Great Britain, June 28th-July 1st, 2022, London.
- Beeler, P. E., Grgičević, K., Essig, S., Gemperli, A., Merlo, C., & Hug, B. (6 September 2021). How to Improve Information Exchange between Primary and Acute Care Providers. Presented at the European Forum for Primary Care (EFPC), in virtual format due to pandemic, Bergen, Norway.
- Beeler, P. E., Grgicevic, K., Gemperli, A., Merlo, C., & Hug, B. (2021). State of Communication between Practices and Hospitals. A Survey among Primary Care Physicians in the Canton of Lucerne. Presented at the SGAIM Kongress Lausanne, Switzerland, 1.-3. Juni , 2022, Lausanne, Switzerland.
Achievements
- Neues aus der Community Medicine – Update und Tour d’Horizon. Lecture, Zentralschweizer Internistenwoche, Komitee ZIW https://www.ziw.ch/leitung, Engelberg, 2024
- KI im Ärztealltag: Facts and Figures statt Hypes und Likes. Lecture, eHealth Summit der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Aarau, 2024
- Enhancing patients and clinicians’ capacity to care through Design. Panel Discussion. Discussion contribution, Enhancing patients and clinicians’ capacity to care through Design., Luzerner Kantonsspital und HSLU, Luzerner Kantonsspital, 2024
- Community Medicine: Was ist das? Einblick in abgeschlossene und laufende Forschungsarbeiten und Ausblick. Lecture, Faculty Lecture, Fakultät Gesundheitswissenschaften und Medizin, Universität Luzern, Luzern, 2024
- Community Medicine in der Zentralschweiz – eine Einführung und Ausblick. Lecture, Frühlingszyklus, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Departement Innere Medizin, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, 2024
- Digitalization as an opportunity for medicine and research in Central Switzerland. Key Note, Forschungssymposium Gesundheit Luzern, Universität Luzern, Universität Luzern, Universität Luzern, 2023
- Digitalisierung in der Medizin – Wo stehen wir und wohin geht die Reise? Lecture, Quadrimed-Kongress: "An App a day keeps the doctor away", Quadrimed, Crans Montana (Dr. J.M. Schnyder), Crans Montana, 2023
- Die Verteilung von Krankheitsbildern und Eingriffen in der Zentralschweiz – eine thematische Annäherung. Lecture, Zentralschweizer Internistenwoche, Luzerner Kantonsspital, Spital Stans, Engelberg, 2022
- Was bringt Epic gegen die Über- und Fehlversorgung? Lecture, Taqung Arbeitsgemeinschaft "smarter medicine", Luzerner Kantonsspital, Luzern, 2022
- How to Improve Information Exchange between Primary and Acute Care Providers. Lecture, Tag des akademischen Nachwuchs in der Hausarztmedizin (TANHAM), Interlaken, Switzerland, TANHAM, Interlaken, 2021
- PROs und CONs verschiedener elektronischer Krankengeschichten. Die Luzerner Erfahrungen mit Epic. Lecture, Frühjahreskongress der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Allgemeine Innere Medizin (SGAIM), Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Allgemeine Innere Medizin (SGAIM), Basel, online, 2021
- Data - Secondary Use: Secondary Use aus Sicht Spital und Bildung. eHealth Summit, Aarau, 2023
- Auswahl der Medikamente für die Arzneimittelliste aus der Sicht des Arztes. Die Arzneimittelliste: Evaluation und Bewirtschaftung des Arzneimitelsortiments im Spital (DAS für Spitalapotheker), Basel-Stadt, 2023
Vested Interests
- Delegiertenrat der Vereinigung der Zentralschweizer Ärztegesellschaften, Member, Switzerland, 2019–
- Mitglied, Qualitätskommission der Schweizerischen Gesellschaft für Allgemeine Innere Medizin (SGAIM), 2022–
- Mitglied Working Group Clinical Knowledge, Institut für Medizinische Lehre, Bern, 2010–