Session Type
Meeting
Search Results for Quality Improvement
Abstract Number: 219
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Patients admitted to our hospital with chest pain concerning for Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) have a length of stay exceeding the community average. We postulated that unnecessary stress test orders in some cases may be contributing to this increased length of stay. We hypothesized that implementation of a clinical decision support tool (CDST) would […]
Abstract Number: 228
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: A lack of standardization in care delivery can lead to variations in outcomes in the high-risk work of neurosurgery. The aim of this program was to develop, implement and evaluate the impact of three standardized interventions to improve neurosurgical patient outcomes and experiences. Methods: Hospitalists partnered with Anesthesia and Neurosurgery leaders from five large […]
Abstract Number: 229
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Driven by the current opioid epidemic, drug overdose has become the leading cause of unintentional death nationwide. Efforts are underway to decrease unnecessary opioid prescribing. Hospitalists care for many patients with preexisting opioid prescriptions or appropriately prescribed new opioids at discharge. Though naloxone decreases the morbidity and mortality associated with opioid overdose, most patients […]
Abstract Number: 231
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: An effective patient safety and quality improvement (QI) curriculum is imperative for graduate medical education (GME) training programs. Yet many health systems are lacking pedagogical training in these methods. Learning often takes the form of group project work, yet projects may not reflect institutional priorities, duplicate ongoing efforts, or remain unfinished after allotted time […]
Abstract Number: 233
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Elevated blood pressure (BP) is common among hospitalized patients, with prevalence estimates between 50-70%. Many factors may contribute to this, such as pain, nausea, anxiety, or volume overload. However, true hypertensive emergency requiring rapid reduction in BP is relatively rare. The easy availability of intravenous (IV) antihypertensives may lead to unnecessary treatment of asymptomatic […]
Abstract Number: 236
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Readmissions continue to be a significant burden on health systems and in 2017 nearly 80% of all hospitals face financial penalties for 30-day readmissions. There are limited examples of standardized processes for notifying discharging physicians of readmissions real-time and encouraging physician self-reflection on reasons for readmissions. Purpose: In the present study, we created a […]
Abstract Number: 237
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Respiratory rate (RR) is a predictor of adverse outcomes and an integral component of many risk prediction scores for hospitalized adults. Despite its clinical value, RRs are often inaccurate and may lead to misclassification of disease severity, potentially jeopardizing patient safety. Purpose: We sought to improve inpatient RR measurement by patient care assistants (PCAs) […]
Abstract Number: 246
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Many hospitalized patients do not understand their treatment and care plans [1] and research shows that better physician communication skills improve patient outcomes [2]. Since these communication skills are teachable, many institutions implement a standardized communication tool for physicians and trainees [3, 4, 5, 6]. The evidence-based Acknowledge, Introduce, Duration, Explanation, and Thank (AIDET) […]
Abstract Number: 247
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Long discharge times (DT), (the time from discharge order to patient leaving room), have detrimental impacts on any hospital. Apart from causing dissatisfaction among patients and their families who are waiting to go home, prolonged DT also increases wait times for patients being admitted from the ED. Delayed admissions pursuant to late discharges, caused […]
Abstract Number: 250
Hospital Medicine 2018; April 8-11; Orlando, Fla.
Background: Venous thromboembolism (VTE), including deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism, is a serious public health problem causing over 90,000 deaths each year. VTE rates at our institution have been high and costly, with insurer penalties for post-operative VTE exceeding $5.5M in 2014. While prophylaxis for at-risk inpatients can reduce hospital-associated (HA) VTE by up […]