Background: Experts identify empathic responses to patient expressions of negative emotion – such as anxiety, sadness, and anger – as a key component of patient-centered communication, yet evidence on the impact of empathy on patient-reported outcomes in the hospital is limited. Methods: Our study objective was to assess the association between hospitalists’ expressions of empathy [...]

Background: Experts identify empathic responses to patient expressions of negative emotion – such as anxiety, sadness, and anger – as a key component of patient-centered communication, yet evidence on the impact of empathy on patient-reported outcomes in the hospital is limited. Methods: Our study objective was to assess the association between hospitalists’ expressions of empathy [...]

Background: Hospital readmissions among HIV positive patients are high, and reducing 30-day readmissions is a priority of health systems and payers. Improved communication in the hospital may help decrease readmissions. Our objective was to determine the association between satisfaction with provider communication and 30-day readmissions among HIV positive patients. Methods: We performed a cross-sectional analysis [...]

Background: Though previous studies have demonstrated that hypoglycemia is a risk factor for inpatient mortality among hospitalized patients, many clinicians may not be aware of the seriousness of this finding. The purpose of this study was to describe the most common comorbidities and outcomes of patients admitted with hypoglycemia (

Background: Acute Medical Assessment Units (AMAU) in the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand improve inpatient flow and quality. It is critical to spread such best practices. Qatar, a GCC state (Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and UAE) has tremendous recent population growth stressing the healthcare system. Hamad General Hospital (HGH), the main national hospital, [...]

Background:  Transitions of care, whether between or within institutions, are an important source of errors, inefficiency, and unnecessary costs.  Inter-hospital transfers are complicated by incongruent information systems, indirect and asynchronous communication, and geographical distance all in settings of high patient complexity and acuity.  We developed a large database of patients transferred between hospitals to identify [...]

Background: Inpatient hospitalization represents a key time for patients who use tobacco to quit smoking, and inpatients who receive smoking cessation counseling, nicotine replacement, and referral to outpatient resources have increased quit rates six weeks after hospital discharge. However, in 2014, only 34.5% of tobacco users admitted to our 600-bed academic hospital were documented as [...]

Decreasing Use of Continuous Pulse Oximetry in Pediatric Inpatients Lavanya G. Shankar, MD, Lurie Children’s at Northwestern Medicine Central DuPage Hospital. Abstract Text: Background: Pediatric inpatients with simple respiratory diagnoses and hypoxia do not have clear guidelines on when Continuous Pulse Oximetry (CPO) may be discontinued after initially being placed. As a result, patients who have been [...]

Background:  Recent Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules require hospitals to have their physicians submit inpatient admission orders and certification prior to a patient’s discharge in order to justify hospitalization reimbursement; however, CMS does not specify how hospitals are to achieve this regulation. Use of Health Information Technology (HIT) tools has significantly expanded, [...]

Background: Day-to-night inpatient handoff is a high-risk moment, with potential for miscommunication. A novel handoff program recently reduced medical errors and preventable adverse events. Historically, handoffs performed by Internal Medicine residents at our institution were not standardized and there was little workplace-based performance feedback. We evaluated the impact of a novel standardized handoff tool and [...]