Background: Despite advances in treatment modalities, systolic heart failure carries a high risk of mortality. Several studies have shown that patients with systolic heart failure also experience frequent hospitalization. Although several medical and surgical intervention studies have examined mortality outcomes in patients with systolic heart failure, an in-depth analysis of outcomes of hospitalized systolic heart [...]

Background: Transcatheter aortic valve replacement (TAVR) is an increasingly common procedure. While it is currently recommended for patients with severe aortic stenosis with high or intermediate surgical risk, it is currently being studied in lower risk patients. If approved for expanded use, it stands to become even more commonplace in hospitals around the country. We [...]

Background: Length of stay (LOS) outliers are a focus of cost and resource utilization for hospitals in the United States. Limited research has been done to characterize outliers, risk factors, and barriers to discharge. Methods: We conducted a case-control study of inpatient admissions to the general medicine service line between September 2015 and August 2016. [...]

Background: Peripheral Intravenous Catheters (PIVs) are the most frequently used invasive device in hospitalized patients. Although they are often considered low risk, complications associated with peripheral IVs include phlebitis, bloodstream infection, extravasation. They are also among the commonest devices implicated in cases of Staphylococcus Aureus bacteremia. While these complications can be mitigated by assessment of [...]

Background: Health information technology (HIT) has the potential to decrease rates of hospital-acquired conditions. The Patient Safety Learning Lab (PSLL) developed a suite of HIT tools to engage patients, families, and providers in identifying, assessing, and reducing patient safety threats. The goal of this current evaluation is to quantify the effects of this intervention on [...]

Background: Adverse events (AEs) are a major concern in the inpatient setting, with many considered preventable. The Patient Safety Learning Lab implemented a Patient Safety Dashboard integrated with our electronic health record as part of a suite of health information technology tools to reduce inpatient AEs. The goals of this evaluation were to understand patterns [...]

Background: Since 1951, medical television dramas have impacted how the public views, understands, and learns about the medical profession. Previous studies have examined how these shows depict topics such as cardiopulmonary resuscitation; other studies have shown that medical television dramas influence viewers’ perceptions of the healthcare profession. Our particular area of interest is that of [...]

Background: Mortality review, well-documented in the medical literature, is a standardized process used to identify patient safety improvement opportunities and also to evaluate providers. As patient safety experts, hospitalists often review mortality cases for their hospitalist group or hospital. As the volume of cases is often not trivial, it can be difficult to allocate the [...]

Background: Peripherally inserted central catheter (PICC) use in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) is associated with non-functioning arteriovenous fistulae. Existing guidelines recommend avoiding PICC placement in these patients but how often this occurs and how best to implement this recommendation is not known. Methods: Within 42-hospitals participating in the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety Consortium [...]

Background: Midline vascular catheters are gaining popularity in clinical practice. However, patterns of use and outcomes related to these devices are not well known. Methods: Trained abstractors collected detailed patient-, device- and outcome data from medical records of hospitalized patients that received midline catheters from 12 hospitals participating in the Michigan Hospital Medicine Safety (HMS) [...]