Background: Academic hospitalists aspire to be highly effective teachers and must demonstrate excellence in teaching to be promoted. Internal Medicine (IM) residency programs increasingly rely on such hospitalists to supervise residents when they are on inpatient service. Accordingly, outstanding resident teaching and evaluations are imperative to the advancement of academic hospitalists and the success of [...]

Background: Hyperkalemia occurs frequently in diabetes. Sodium zirconium cyclosilicate (SZC), an oral, selective potassium (K) binder, rapidly reduces K in patients (pts) with hyperkalemia and has been shown to maintain normokalemia for up to 1 y. We compared the response to SZC in adults with and without diabetes mellitus (DM, type 1/2) in a 12 [...]

Background: Hepcidin-25 is a liver-derived peptide hormone that regulates iron homeostasis in humans. Recent studies have suggested that it also plays a key role in host-pathogen interface. Iron is essential for the survival and growth of bacteria. When the bacteria infect macrophages, macrophages release a number of cytokines, including interleukin-6, which induce hepatic production of [...]

Background: Patient & Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are groups of patients and caregivers who share their overall experiences of care and perspectives on specific topics with hospital leaders at regular meetings. PFACs provide a crucial supplemental layer of feedback to hospitals outside of HCAHPS survey data and post-discharge phone calls. Hospital Medicine specific PFACs are [...]

Background: Thalidomide, a previously banned sedative drug, was rediscovered as an immunomodulator. Multiple studies demonstrated thalidomide as an experimental treatment for refractory Crohn disease. However, the level of evidence has been limited by the overall inconsistent results. With meta-analysis, we aim to assess the effect of thalidomide and its derivative lenalidomide on refractory Crohn disease [...]

Background: Lonely adults are prone to a variety of poor health outcomes, including accelerated functional and cognitive decline, depression, and premature mortality. As a result, lonely adults may be prone to higher health-related suffering, triggering increased healthcare utilization and possibly undesired aggressive care, particularly as they approach end of life (EOL). However, little is known [...]

Background: Patients hospitalized for infectious diseases are at risk for venous thromboembolism (VTE) and over 50% of VTE events occur 30-40 days after discharge. In our previous analyses, over 60% of patients hospitalized for an infectious disease in the US did not receive any VTE prophylaxis, and only 5% received both inpatient and outpatient VTE [...]

Background: Large volume paracentesis is commonly performed in patients with refractory ascites but can induce hypotension and kidney injury. There is evidence that administering albumin at 6-8 grams per liter (g/L) of ascites removed during or after paracentesis can reduce these adverse events. Current guidelines recommend this practice when >2 liters are removed in high-risk [...]

Background: The role of aspirin in primary prevention of cardiovascular events remains controversial, Especially in diabetic patients. We have conducted a meta-analysis of all randomized controlled trials (RCTs) to evaluate the efficacy and safety of aspirin for primary prevention in diabetic patients. Methods: Literature search of Pubmed, MEDLINE, Cochrane Library and Clinicaltrials.gov for related RCTs [...]

Background: The relationship between gender and mortality from cardiac arrest is poorly understood. In this study we compare survivability of cardiac arrest in the United States based on gender. Methods: We performed a retrospective cohort study on patients with cardiac arrest surveying Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP) Hospital Inpatient National Statistics from 2000 to [...]