Background: Emergency department (ED) overcrowding is associated with a range of negative outcomes, including increased patient morbidity, decreased patient satisfaction, provider burnout, and violence against providers. ED boarding of admitted patients coupled with increasing ED patient volumes contributes to overcrowding. Geographic localization, where hospitalist provider teams are assigned patients on the same inpatient unit, has [...]

Background: Hospitalized patients are often cohorted on specific inpatient wards in an effort to improve outcomes and provider satisfaction. When hospitalist beds are fully occupied, patients may be admitted to off-service inpatient units. Dispersion to multiple units has the potential to affect multiple outcomes. Hospitalist groups may develop cohorting programs, either in the form of [...]

Background: Geographic co-location, the practice of cohorting a panel of patients on the same hospital unit for a single provider or team, is increasingly popular, with 36.4% of adult hospitalist groups reporting unit-based assignments [1]. Benefits include increased hospitalist-patient interaction time, increased odds of multiple same-day patient visits, improved productivity, and greater interdisciplinary communication [2-4]. [...]