Background: Timeliness in transitional care improves clinical outcomes by delivering medical care at the most vulnerable post-hospitalization time. Primary care access to in-network and out-of-network patients’ post-hospitalization has been a challenge, especially to sicker patients with high risk of readmissions. Our institution Post-Discharge Clinic bridges this need by developing processes that will improve timely transitional [...]

Background: Care of hospitalized patients with Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) presents unique challenges due to variability in care, the interplay of acute and chronic pain, and the complex social determinants of health among patients with SCD. Despite comprising only a small percentage of admissions at our academic medical center, admissions for acute SCD-related illnesses have [...]

Background: Medically stable patients with barriers to discharge in the acute care setting are a growing proportion of hospitalized patients throughout the nation at a time when many hospitals are experiencing both bed and healthcare worker shortages. These patients remain bedded across various acute units in the hospital, reducing bed availability and staffing for more [...]

Background: Emergency Department (ED) boarding is associated with increased patient morbidity and mortality and low patient and provider satisfaction. Reducing inpatient Length of Stay (LOS) is one strategy to increase inpatient capacity and reduce ED boarding. Delay in obtaining Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) results is associated with an increase in LOS in the inpatient setting. [...]

Background: Healthcare systems face challenges to meet the needs of a complex aging patient population, and simultaneously at risk of clinician burnout and loss of talent. Advancements in technology for clinical use have extended the reach of clinicians into patient homes, improving operational efficiency of Acute Care at Home programs, as well as patient and [...]

Background: Lack of mobility amongst inpatients is prevalent and deleterious. Hospitalized patients have been shown to spend an average of 83% of their stay in bed, leading to complications including loss of independence in activities of daily living, lower rates of discharge to home, worsening length of stay, and increased mortality. Programs to increase inpatient [...]

Background: As the prevalence of patients admitted with a diagnosis of acute decompensated heart failure rises, hospitalists are at the forefront of delivering care for this complex patient population. Heart failure (HF) exacerbations are one of the leading causes of hospitalizations with high rates of readmissions and associated mortality. Evidence based studies show that optimizing [...]

Background: For hospitalist sections that cover a variety of inpatient services from general medicine to oncology, geographic cohorting of patients may be difficult to execute and maintain. The varying influx of admissions and discharges can result in mismatches in available beds and services. Successful implementation of geographic assignment may require considerable costs including institutional support, [...]

Background: Interdisciplinary rounding at the bedside is a recognized practice for improving patient care, communication, and teamwork. The Focused Interdisciplinary Team (FIT) Rounding model at UCSD has been in place since 2017. Since its implementation, our focus has been on sustaining the standardization of rounding practices and monitoring the impact of FIT on care quality [...]

Background: Clinicians spend nearly half of their time at work on clinical documentation, impacting time spent with patients and trainees. Studies have demonstrated a correlation with electronic health record (EHR) documentation burden and clinician burnout. Finding innovative ways to balance increasing EHR demands and mitigate this burden is essential. Purpose: We identified that time spent [...]