Background: Inter-hospital transfer (IHT, patient transfers between acute care hospitals) is common among hospitalized medical patients (1). However, few data describe which patients may be exposed to the risks of discontinuity of care from IHT without clear benefit (i.e., undergo potentially inappropriate IHT). Methods: The POINT Study, “Identification and Prevention of Potentially Inappropriate Inter-Hospital Transfers” [...]

Background: Accurate and timely discharge summaries are critical to safe transitions of hospitalized patients to the outpatient setting and reduce readmissions1–6. However, composing the hospital course (HC) section of the discharge summary is laborious and time consuming, contributing to increased documentation burden7,8, work outside of work9, and clinician burnout10,11. Recent retrospective studies demonstrated that large [...]

Background: Physical function (PF) impairment is a key determinant of hospital discharge disposition, yet real-time PF assessments remain underutilized in inpatient care. The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System Physical Function 5-item tool (PROMIS PF5, or PF5) was embedded into the electronic health record (EHR) across 21 Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) hospitals to standardize PF [...]

Background: Between the United States and Canada, TikTok hosts more than 175.8 million active users. While originally known for entertainment, the platform has rapidly evolved into a major source of education, news, and health-related content. Because of its wide reach and immediate accessibility, it is essential to evaluate the accuracy and quality of medical information [...]

Background: Peer consultation – the wisdom from collaborating clinicians – is associated with more accurate diagnosis. Programs that provide second opinions or diagnostic time-outs (also known as cross-checks) are thought to improve diagnosis but have not been applied to hospital medicine services. Data from our multicenter collaborative suggest concerns remain about the time required and [...]

Background: Guideline-direct medical therapy (GDMT) improves morbidity and mortality outcomes in heart failure (HF), yet disparities in prescribing patterns persist across insurance types. Previous work at our hospitals demonstrated overall increases in GDMT prescribing following two phases of targeted interventions: financial incentives and education interventions (“Post 1”) and the addition of clinical decision support systems [...]

Background: In the US, 30-day hospital readmissions remain a significant challenge, impacting patient outcomes and healthcare costs. While conventional binary classification models predict whether readmission occurs within 30 days, survival models can capture time-to-readmission dynamics and provide time-dependent risk estimates. We compared these approaches to characterize readmission patterns and guide tailored interventions. Methods: This was [...]

Background: Patient After-Visit Summaries (AVSs) are critical to ensuring safe and effective hospital discharge. However, these documents are often written at reading levels that exceed many patients’ health literacy, leading to misunderstanding of care instructions and preventable post-discharge complications. Hospitalists face increasing documentation burden and limited time for discharge education. Large language models (LLMs) may [...]

Background: In Hospital Medicine, change isn’t coming—it’s already here. Transition is perhaps the only constant in this field. Whether it’s billing models, quality metrics, staffing, reimbursements, or even contracts, evolution is inevitable. A significant shift occurred when Nurse Practitioners (NP) and Physician Assistants (PAs), collectively referred to as Advanced Practice Providers (APPs), joined hospitalist groups. [...]

Background: U.S. hospitals are facing unprecedented strain: ED boarding times are at an all-time high and a national hospital bed shortage is predicted as early as 2032. The leading hospital-substitution model, Hospital at Home, faces financial uncertainty as the waiver allowing its reimbursement expired in September 2025 and now only exists through a continuing resolution [...]