Background: Endoscopies are commonly performed in the inpatient setting, and successful completion frequently requires close coordination among nurses, hospitalists, gastroenterologists, and anesthesiologists. Given the complexity of this multidisciplinary involvement, as well as variability in patient factors like clinical stability and presentation, endoscopies are prone to delays. These delays may cause frustration amongst care providers and [...]

Background: In the throughput arena, one of the most challenging groups of hospitalized patients is the long length of stay (LLOS) patients. Although representing a minority of inpatients, this LLOS population contributes to the majority of excess days. At our urban tertiary academic institution, a LLOS is defined as greater than 15 excess days. In [...]

Background: Discharge delays occur because of inconsistent communication among all clinicians and providers. Inefficient utilization of resources also contributes to delays. Effective communication among the patient care team is a foundation of creating an effective discharge planning process. We must standardize the process of communication as well as resource optimization in order to provide our [...]

Background: Multidisciplinary (MDR) team rounds were established at Halifax hospital as daily, dedicated interactions between varying members of the care team on each inpatient floor. Members of the care team include physicians, nurses, physical therapists, pharmacists, and case managers. These multidisciplinary interactions allow for smooth, real-time, and accurate information that facilitate communication and enhance the [...]

Background: Interdisciplinary team-based care is a promising concept in hospital medicine in which healthcare team members representing multiple disciplines collaborate to develop patient care plans. Multiple published studies showed that team based care is associated with decreased length of stay (LOS).1,2Patient-Centered Approach to Health (PATH) team was a redesign of the Structured Interdisciplinary Bedside Rounding [...]

Background: Patients evaluated after sexual assault may require non-occupational post-exposure prophylaxis (nPEP) to prevent infection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), depending on the assessed risk of HIV transmission in each case1-4. Access to nPEP medications, patient counseling, and follow-up care should be offered in a systematic, comprehensive, and compassionate setting. Unfortunately, multiple barriers may impede [...]

Background: Catheter Associated Urinary Tract Infection (CAUTI) is the most common hospital acquired infection and constitutes upto 40% of all Healthcare Associated infections. Urinary catheter is used in 15% to 25% of hospitalized patients and often utilized for inappropriate indications. Daily risk of Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is 3 to 7% with the use of [...]