Background: Health care systems around the country are struggling with faculty and staff burnout. It is established that burnout leads to higher employee turnover and poorer patient outcomes. The Big Read is a hospitalist-led institution-wide initiative in which a large number of faculty/staff/trainees/students are invited to read and discuss the same book within a 3 [...]

Background: Lonely adults are prone to a variety of poor health outcomes, including accelerated functional and cognitive decline, depression, and premature mortality. As a result, lonely adults may be prone to higher health-related suffering, triggering increased healthcare utilization and possibly undesired aggressive care, particularly as they approach end of life (EOL). However, little is known [...]

Case Presentation: The patient is a 74 year old woman with past medical history of dementia and an aggressive right upper lobe cavitary mass who presented with post-obstructive pneumonia. The lung mass was diagnosed two years prior, however the patient refused further workup. The patient named her two daughters to be dual healthcare powers of [...]