Background: The AHRQ-funded REdesigning SystEms to Improve Teamwork and Quality for Hospitalized Patients (RESET) study was designed to improve teamwork and quality for hospitalized patients by providing mentorship and resources to hospitals as they implemented 5 interventions, which included (1) Unit-based Physician Teams, (2) Unit Nurse-Physician Co-leadership, (3) Enhanced Interprofessional Rounds, (4) Unit-level Performance Reports, [...]

Background: Acutely ill hospitalized medicine patients are at increased risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and chemoprophylaxis of VTE is recommended for this patient population. Agents typically used for VTE chemoprophylaxis include unfractionated heparin and low molecular weight heparin (LMWH) administered via subcutaneous injection one to three times daily. Over the past decade, new evidence is [...]

Background: Effective communication at hospital discharge between inpatient and outpatient providers is critical to improving transitions of care and reducing hospital readmissions. A key part of transitions communication is the hospital discharge summary (DCS). Prior studies show that DCSs are often not available to primary care providers (PCPs) at the time of hospital follow-up and [...]

Background: Cirrhosis was the fifteenth leading cause of death in the United States in 2019, with ascites being the most common major complication leading to hospital admission. Patients with ascites have recurrent hospital admissions with disproportionate use of hospital resources. Large volume abdominal paracentesis can be done safely by trained providers and is associated with [...]

Background: Current guidelines recommend against routine neurodiagnostic testing for evaluation of simple febrile seizures. We aimed to assess variation in rates of neurodiagnostic testing and establish Achievable Benchmarks of Care (ABCs) for children evaluated for simple febrile seizures at children’s hospitals. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study of children 6 months to 5 years with [...]

Background: Point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS) is a growing interest in pediatric hospital medicine, however few Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) fellowships incorporate POCUS training formally into their curriculum. In addition to its ability to expedite care, POCUS can improve the ability of pediatric hospitalists to take care of patients in resource-limited settings or when specialists are not [...]

Background: The onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic created innumerable challenges and demanded rapid innovation for perioperative medicine. In March 2020, in response to our institution’s expectations, our hospitalist-led preoperative medicine clinic rapidly pivoted to patient care via telehealth. Purpose: Before the pandemic, our hospitalist-led preoperative medicine clinic was already in the early planning stages [...]

Background: Georgetown professor Cal Newport coined the term “deep work” to describe the type of focus that allows high performance on cognitively demanding tasks that is only possible when one is free from distraction. High levels of attention and focus have been tied to increased creativity, improved work satisfaction, and higher quality of work. Some [...]

Background: Observation Units (OUs) are a common healthcare delivery model for health systems across the United States. OUs vary from a type 1 to type 4 based on several factors[1]. Another category of OUs – second-level OUs – does not fit this traditional classification due to a different patient population composition and staffing model. The [...]

Case Presentation: A 3-year-old female who recently returned from a bear-hunting trip in Idaho presented with a 4-day history of progressive ascending paralysis and hyporeflexia. Her symptoms initially started 4 days prior to presentation with difficulty walking and progressed to difficulty urinating and eventual upper extremity weakness. The family did not seek medical care until [...]