Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) exacerbations result in significant morbidity, mortality, and healthcare costs. Understanding regional differences in clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization among patients hospitalized with COPD may provide insight into best practices in caring for this vulnerable patient population. Methods: Using the National Inpatient Sample (NIS) database for the years 2016 to [...]

Background: Patients with acute severe asthma exacerbations that are unresponsive to standard therapy are said to be in status asthmaticus (SA). Patients with SA need hospitalization and are at risk of considerable morbidity and mortality along with high healthcare costs. Understanding regional differences in clinical outcomes and healthcare utilization among patients hospitalized with SA may [...]

Background: Studies have shown geographically co-locating patients of the same physician (also known as regionalization) have improved provider satisfaction and increased team efficiency and collaboration. At most institutions, including ours, assigning physicians to patients and units is done manually. Furthermore, interventions to regionalize hospitals in the literature focus on grouping conditions, specialties, or teams (i.e., [...]

Case Presentation: A 62-year-old woman with hypertension, carpal tunnel syndrome, and a year-long history of complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) presented with chronic, severe right arm pain along with swelling and erythema. One year before this presentation, she had experienced right-hand numbness and tingling, leading to a carpal tunnel syndrome diagnosis and subsequent release surgery. [...]

Case Presentation: A 21-year-old woman presented to the emergency department with 1 month of worsening bilateral foot pain, swelling, and erythema. Her symptoms began shortly after a trip to Arizona, where she spent several days hiking and reported use of a strong massage gun on her feet for hours at a time. She was evaluated [...]