Background: Patient portal use has been associated with improved patient experience, safety, and health outcomes.1,2 To keep patients better connected to their providers, our institution aimed to expand MyChart utilization. We piloted a standard operating procedure (SOP) to enhance MyChart education and uptake among those admitted to an inpatient general medicine unit. Purpose: Our intervention […]

Background: The HCAHPS survey is used nationally by health systems as a standard to measure the patient experience and identify opportunities for improvement. Historically, process improvement initiatives based on the survey are implemented retroactively, attempting to prevent negative experiences for future patients. However, given the increasing complexity of patient care, proactively addressing the identified concerns […]

Background: Over the last few decades, roles and specialties in medicine have proliferated, complicating inpatient care. Care teams can include multiple types of clinicians, whose roles and responsibilities may be unclear. This can impact how patients understand who is in charge and various aspects of their care. We sought to examine these questions:1. How well […]

Background: Communication with consultant teams is critical to the hospitalist workflow, especially in hospitals with multiple levels of hierarchy due to varying training backgrounds and experiences. We aimed to increase knowledge of the communication dynamic between hospitalists and consultant attendings in medical and surgical specialties. Methods: We surveyed Emory Division of Hospital Medicine physicians and Advanced Practice Providers to assess interactions with consultant attendings. Surveys […]

Background: Evidence-based COVID-19 management has evolved with unprecedented speed; however, the rate and fidelity with which institutions have adopted new evidence into practice is unknown. Methods: We surveyed members of the Hospital Medicine Reengineering Network (HOMERuN) from 12/17/20-2/10/21 and compared their institutional COVID-19 management recommendations to available evidence from pivotal randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and […]

Background: Communication, teamwork, and conflict navigation amongst physician colleagues are core competencies. Yet, how these core elements of professional behavior are enacted in practice remains poorly characterized, and interpersonal interactions continue to be a central source of workplace conflict. While this has been described in the nursing literature, physicians’ experience of conflict with other physician […]

Background: For hospitalists who are at the forefront of inpatient general medicine, clear communication is crucial to a successful provider-patient relationship and optimal care delivery. Uncertainty around provider roles and medical terminology can negatively impact patients’ experience and understanding of their care. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess patients’ understanding of the […]

Background: Interdisciplinary communication is essential for safe and high-quality patient care. Outside of bedside rounds, paging is the most used means for communication to clinicians (physicians and advanced practice providers (APPs)). Quality improvement (QI) initiatives have aimed to improve patient safety by expanding technology and standardizing paging communications as well as to characterize what types […]

Background: The increased morbidity and disproportionately high mortality rates among Black and Hispanic patients hospitalized due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) are well documented. However, little is known about how patients’ experiences differ across racial and ethnic lines after discharge. Methods: A survey was conducted online in the United States by the Harris Poll from […]

Background: The transfer of patients between hospitals (interhospital transfer, IHT), exposes patients to risks of discontinuity of care, such as errors in communication and gaps in information transfer. In our prior work evaluating IHT to general medical (GMS), cardiology, oncology and ICU services at an 800-bed tertiary care referral hospital, we found that in 37% […]