Background: Rising inpatient census, limited physical space and unpredictable admission rates introduce communication inefficiencies among doctors, nurses and patients. Purpose: At UC San Diego Health System, we aimed to streamline communication among physicians, patients and other care team members. Description: Two operational changes were made: 1) establishment of team-based geographic cohorting and 2) segregation of [...]

Background: Growing antimicrobial resistance, C. difficile infection and cost have triggered a greater reliance on antimicrobial stewardship. Most stewardship models rely upon a central team, often led by ID specialists, to oversee prescribing in an institution. However, there are limitations to this paradigm. Purpose: We believe opportunities exist for hospitalists to drive stewardship by integrating [...]

Background: Geographic hospitalist staffing and interdisciplinary rounding has been shown to improve staff communication, patient communication, and reduce length of stay. Communication between hospitalist and nurses also play a crucial role in patient safety and hospital throughput. Despite its importance, maintaining geography is difficult and communication between physicians and nurses are often sub-optimal and fragmented. [...]