Background: Neutropenic Fever (NF) is a common complication for patients on myelosuppressive chemotherapy. Despite guidelines by the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA), however, there is variability in physician compliance. There are limited prior studies assessing compliance in this realm and those studies do not fully assess drivers of poor compliance. Poor compliance can result in increased [...]

Background: Studies have linked the use of anti-secretory agents to nosocomial complications including Clostridium difficile–induced pseudomembranous colitis and hospital acquired pneumonia. In the outpatient setting, the Federal Drug Administration has issued warnings regarding increased risk of hypomagnesemia as well as fractures of the hip, wrist, and spine with the use of proton pump inhibitors. Although [...]

Background: The United States has the highest expenditure per capita and fastest growth when it comes to health care. Imaging is one of the fastest growing services in medicine reaching approximately $100 billion annually. There have been criticisms that imaging studies are often over utilized and inappropriate which results in unnecessary costs and waste. Our [...]

Background: Medical overuse, defined as the provision of services for which harms outweigh benefits, is increasingly recognized as a driver of high cost and poor clinical outcomes in the U.S. health care system. Despite increasing attention to overuse, methods for reducing it are unclear. In contrast, methods of identification, analysis, and prevention of medical errors [...]

Background: Increasing the value of health care, typically regarded as maximizing quality of care while minimizing unnecessary costs, has been an increasing focus of hospitals nationwide.  Ways of reliably measuring unnecessary utilization, however, have not been well-studied. Hospital Compare is a consumer-oriented CMS.gov website that provides information on how well hospitals provide evidence-based care. It [...]