Background: To date, there are limited reports around the use of well-designed information technology tools to enhance throughput communication during interdisciplinary rounds (IDRs). In collaboration with our technology innovations center, we developed a Microsoft Teams IDR tool known as “NORA.” NORA is an automated process-oriented tool designed to extract patient summary information from electronic health [...]

Background: There is little data on the relative prevalence of different causes of care delays that contribute to prolonged length of stay. Unnecessary delays in the care of hospitalized patients increase the risk of hospital-related complications and drive up healthcare costs. Prior observational studies have suggested that a reduction in hospital length-of-stay is possible without [...]

Background: Hospitalized patients often require post-acute care (PAC) after discharge ranging from long-term acute care hospitals (LTACH) to home health services. However, patients waiting for discharge to PAC are at risk for delayed discharges [1], which can increase in-hospital complications, increase costs, and decrease access to hospital care for other patients. [2, 3] Disposition prediction [...]

Background: Delays in medical care are frustrating for all stakeholders involved, including patients, their families, and the clinical teams responsible for moving their care forward. These delays, particularly in inpatient care, not only extend hospital stays but also have a cascading effect on patient throughput and inpatient bed availability. Hospitalists regularly navigate these challenges and [...]

Case Presentation: A 29-year-old man with a history of morbid obesity, asthma, and chronic tracheostomy presented with 3 weeks of abdominal pain. The pain was intermittent and epigastric, without relationship to eating. He had poor appetite and nausea, though no emesis. He denied use of ibuprofen or alcohol. He denied fevers or chills. The pain [...]

Case Presentation: 76 year old male with non-Hodgkin lymphoma presented with shortness of breath and cough and was admitted with acute hypoxic respiratory failure (AHRF). Last chemotherapy treatment was one month before presentation with rituximab, in addition to other agents. He had completed 2 out of 6 planned chemotherapy cycles. On physical exam, there were [...]

Case Presentation: Case Presentation: This is a 3 year old male who recently returned from two months traveling in Liberia. In Liberia, he contracted malaria and was treated with two days of IV antimalarial treatment (thought to be artesunate) followed by three days of oral artemether-lumefantrine with improvement in symptoms. Ten days after completing treatment, [...]

Case Presentation: An 80-year-old man with recently-diagnosed pulmonary fibrosis presented to the hospital with ascending bilateral lower extremity pain and weakness. His symptoms began in both feet and calves, and progressed proximally toward his thighs over the past 6 weeks. During this timeframe, his symptoms evolved from being able to ambulate for miles and climb [...]