Background: Clinical decision support tools based on predictive analytics can provide actionable information and improve clinical outcomes for patients at risk of developing sepsis. Scoring systems such as Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) that were not specifically trained to detect sepsis tend to have high false alarm rates, leading [...]

Background: Clinical decision support tools based on predictive analytics can provide actionable information and improve clinical outcomes for patients at risk of developing sepsis. Scoring systems such as Systemic Inflammatory Response Syndrome (SIRS) and National Early Warning Score (NEWS) that were not specifically trained to detect sepsis tend to have high false alarm rates, leading [...]

Background: Multidisciplinary rounds (MDRs) or discharge huddles in the hospital were developed to enhance safety and streamline discharge by improving communication between members of the patient care team. Despite efforts to coordinate care around a single brief daily meeting, multiple aspects of the patient’s care can change throughout the day. Keeping all members of the [...]

Background: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recommends against the use of Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) for determining patient satisfaction with physicians, however, hospital administrators often use HCAHPS scores as one metric for determining physician incentives. Such use of HCAHPS likely results from its easy availability and lack of [...]

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 [...]

Background: Palliative care (PC) has been shown to be cost-effective and improve the quality of life for patients facing incurable and life-threatening illness. However, identifying patients benefiting from PC consultation remains a challenge in the inpatient setting. As part of a quality improvement initiative, we created a PC screening tool by adapting elements from existing outpatient [...]