Background: Digital bedside information displays can alert clinicians about patient safety hazards, but the unintended consequences of these interventions are not well understood. Introducing new digital interventions may have implications for clinician satisfaction with the electronic environment, clinical team communication, and patient-centered care. Toward greater understanding of these unintended consequences, we described the content, form, […]

Background: Rapid response teams play an important role in the care of clinically deteriorating patients. Variability in team members, setting, and activation criteria creates unique challenges to studying these teams. The complexities and inefficiencies of rapid responses due to their heterogeneity are poorly understood. Here, we explore opportunities for improved rapid response team efficiency using […]

Background: The discharge process is complex and high-risk. Clear and accurate communication between the physician or Advanced Practice Provider (providers), nurse, and patient are essential to ensure a safe and effective transition of care. Upon literature review, there have not been studies looking at interprofessional communication during the discharge process. Also, our institution (a large […]

Background: One in five Americans (64 million) speak a language other than English, and one in twelve Americans (26 million) speak English less than “very well”, classifying them as having limited English proficiency (LEP). LEP patients have difficulty navigating the healthcare system due to language barriers in understanding their treatment plans, communicating with providers and […]

Background: The Limited English Proficiency (LEP) population is at higher risk of receiving poorer care and worse health outcomes compared to their English-speaking counterparts. Interpreters should be utilized to help improve these encounters, but physicians are rarely trained on how to work with interpreters effectively. This is reflected in a prior study showing that residents […]

Background: While there are now equal numbers of women and men graduating from medical school, disparities in female representation within academic medicine persist. Gender bias has been cited as one of the main drivers of gender disparity in academic medicine and continues to be a significant barrier for women in the workplace. Grand rounds is […]

Background: Health professionals providing care to patients of limited English proficiency (LEP) are mandated by federal law to provide adequate language interpretation. Professional medical interpreters are associated with an improvement of health outcomes for patients with LEP due to decreased communication errors, improved patient comprehension, and improved overall patient satisfaction.1 However, professional medical interpreters are […]

Background: Communication failures amongst interdisciplinary internal medicine (IM) teams occur often in the inpatient setting, which can inhibit mutual understanding of care plans, increase the potential for medical error, and contribute to patient dissatisfaction. Efforts to enhance interdisciplinary collaborative teamwork within inpatient IM teams highlighted a critical need to address concerns related to communication. Methods: […]

Background: Commonly used discharge communication workflows hinder timely and efficient discharge. Studies exploring the use of the electronic health record (EHR) for discharge planning have been limited to electronic reports constructed from EHR data elements, including barriers to discharge documented at admission, care management data, and discharge criteria or other targeted interventions such as improving […]

Background: Approximately 1.6 million patients are transferred between hospitals yearly, with disproportionately high cost and mortality. Despite the risk associated with inter-hospital transition of care, there is no established best practice in coordinating and triaging transfers. This gap in knowledge is partly driven by a dearth of studies which integrate clinical data before and after […]