Background: The burden of acute care among cancer patients, estimated to exceed $70B by 2020, represents ~50% of all costs of advanced cancer care and accounts for 70% of nationwide regional variation in these costs. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services proposed value-driven Rule OP-35 includes a mandate to reduce acute care use among [...]

Background: Wilson Disease (WD) is a known cause of liver test abnormalities. Guidelines have been established to help clinicians avoid routine testing. According to the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD) Guideline, screening for WD—with serum ceruloplasmin, 24-hour urinary copper excretion, and slit-lamp examination for Kayser-Fleischer rings—is warranted in any patient with [...]

Background: One of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) core competencies (listed as Principle 7) is that Hospitalists provide effective clinical resource utilization. Examples: cost effective care, high-value care, and designing processes that address cost per stay and readmissions. Optimized inpatient throughput has been shown as a strategy to improve overall hospital flow, including streamlined [...]