Background: The hospitalist system in Korea was introduced to address gaps in inpatient care and enhance safety. Despite increasing demand, research on the impact of hospitalists’ years of experience on care quality remains limited. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was conducted in multiple tertiary centers with inpatient internal medicine hospitalist wards. Hospitalists who began working [...]

Background: In the United States (US), obesity is associated with a high burden of morbidity and mortality, and its prevalence is increasing. A higher prevalence of obesity disproportionately impacts rural (vs. urban) areas and the Midwest and South (vs. West and Northeast) regions (1-2). In addition, obesity is linked with greater healthcare costs compared to [...]

Background: There are approximately 500,000 episodes of alcohol withdrawal that require pharmacologic treatment yearly. Lorazepam is commonly used due to its high therapeutic to-toxic effect index and its status as historically being the usual treatment. Phenobarbital is another common drug used to treat alcohol withdrawal. Patients with heavy alcohol use may become resistant to some [...]

Background: Urgency of and time to antibiotic administration has often been highlighted to prevent complications of community acquired pneumonia (CAP). Adult literature is mixed on whether administration of antibiotics within four hours of diagnosis of CAP reduces morbidity and mortality, however this has not been studied in pediatric patients. We evaluated whether time to antibiotics [...]

Background: Patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) are frequently hospitalized, however up to 25% of these encounters end in patient directed discharge (PDD), leading to interruptions in care, increased mortality, and higher hospital readmission rates.1-4 Receipt of medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) has been shown to decrease odds of PDD.5 However, to date, less [...]

Background: Ischemic heart disease (IHD) is a leading cause of mortality globally and in the United States which necessitates an understanding of long-term trends to inform interventions. IHD encompasses various conditions such as coronary artery disease and heart attacks, contributing significantly to the global burden of cardiovascular diseases. The high prevalence of risk factors, including [...]

Background: Patients with acute severe asthma exacerbations that are unresponsive to standard therapy are said to be in status asthmaticus (SA). Patients with SA need hospitalization and are at risk of considerable morbidity and mortality along with high healthcare costs. Understanding regional differences in clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization among patients hospitalized with SA may [...]

Background: Tobacco use remains a major public health issue in the United States as it is linked to a broad spectrum of serious diseases. Although intensive inpatient tobacco treatment programs have shown success, the impact of prescription of smoking cessation medications alone on hospital readmissions has not been thoroughly studied. This study aims to assess [...]

Background: Metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MALSD) is a recent classification that better reflects the cardiometabolic factors contributing to the condition, while reducing stigma associated with previous terminology. Characterized by triglyceride accumulation, MALSD can progress to inflammation and fibrosis if untreated. Although the FIB-4 score is commonly used to assess liver fibrosis, its association with [...]

Background: Sepsis is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among hospitalized patients. Previous studies have demonstrated that rates of sepsis and its complications – including organ failure, readmission, and death – are higher among Black patients than white patients (1, 2). While some of these differences can be explained by socioeconomic inequities, comorbidities, and [...]