Kenneth Hung, MD, MS, is a gastroenterologist hospitalist, which means he treats patients who are admitted to the hospital with acute gastrointestinal (GI) conditions.
“We are skilled at taking care of all inpatient issues. We see a wide variety of conditions, including actively bleeding blood vessels that need to be treated with injection, cautery, clipping, or sprays to stop bleeding,” Dr. Hung says. “We take care of patients with a variety of issues including constipation and other conditions that can be managed as an outpatient to more serious conditions that require care in the intensive care unit.”
Being hospitalized, Dr. Hung acknowledges, is understandably stressful for patients. “We have a team of people who are here to help patients,” he says. “And patients should be asking questions, too.”
An important part of his job, Dr. Hung says, is educating patients. “We counsel them on their disease condition, the risks and benefits of any procedure, and try to involve them as much as we can to help them determine what path they want to choose,” he says. “Because every procedure and medication have risks and potential benefits, we explain everything as thoroughly as we can, so that patients can make informed, personalized decisions.”
His research interests include quality improvement in GI bleeding, which can be caused by ulcers, certain medications, and Helicobacter pylori,a type of bacteria.
