Background: Google searches for hospitals typically yield a Google star rating (GSR). These ratings are an important source of information for consumers. The degree to which GSRs are associated with traditional quality measures has not been evaluated recently. We sought to characterize the relationship between a hospital’s GSR, its Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers […]

Background: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) uses a five‐star quality rating system to measure Medicare beneficiaries’ experience with their health care system. Unplanned readmission rates serve as a marker of the effectiveness and safety of its transitional care process and carry significant weight in determining a hospital’s overall rating. Our institution, an […]

Background: Effective communication at hospital discharge between inpatient and outpatient providers is critical to improving transitions of care and reducing hospital readmissions. A key part of transitions communication is the hospital discharge summary (DCS). Prior studies show that DCSs are often not available to primary care providers (PCPs) at the time of hospital follow-up and […]

Background: Readmissions are costly to the healthcare system have been associated with low patient satisfaction scores, longer length of stay, and higher mortality. Identifying and addressing patient needs at the time of transitioning care from the inpatient to outpatient setting has the potential to reduce readmission rates. The purpose of our project was to develop […]

Background: Pulmonary B-lines are a highly sensitive sonographic sign of pulmonary edema in patients with Acute Decompensated Heart Failure (ADHF) (3). When found prior to discharge, this finding has been shown to accurately predict re-admission and mortality on short term follow up (4,5,6). Inferior vena cava (IVC) diameter and collapsibility can be used as a […]