Background: Studies have reported an association of physician burnout with lower patient satisfaction and poor quality of health care. Hospitalists play a large role in inpatient care, however, to the best of our knowledge only one study has examined the association of hospitalist burnout on patient satisfaction but found no significant association. Therefore, the objective [...]

Background: Multidisciplinary rounding (MDR) is a necessary component to safe and effective patient care and discharge during hospitalization. However, there are many barriers to daily MDR that can limit the effectiveness of the team. An interdisciplinary needs assessment of MDR at our institution revealed poor communication on plan of care and limited understanding of interdisciplinary [...]

Background: Improving a patient’s experience with the health care system improves outcomes of care. Glickman et al found that higher patient satisfaction is associated with improved adherence and lower inpatient mortality rates. Boulding et al found that higher patient satisfaction was associated with lower 30- day readmission rates for patients with heart failure, acute MI [...]

Background: Teamwork is essential to providing safe, effective, patient-centered care. Prior research documented discrepancies in perceptions of teamwork and collaboration among nurses and physicians. However, prior studies have been limited to single sites and academic medical centers. Methods: We conducted surveys of healthcare professionals in 4 hospitals participating in the REdesigning SystEms to Improve Teamwork [...]

Background: Discharge planning should begin at the time of admission and, among its many purposes, involves preparing patients for the transition out of the hospital. Unfortunately, many hospitalized patients do not understand or agree with their provider about their discharge plan, including the timing and location of dismissal. When patients and their providers do not [...]

Background: Patient-centered communication has been associated with positive patient outcomes such as improved patient understanding and adherence to therapy. Teaching patient-centered care (PCC) and communication throughout a hospital stay, with an emphasis on understanding each patient’s perspective and circumstances, is a focus on one of four general inpatient medicine services at our hospital. We did [...]

Background: Nurse-physician teamwork is a critical determinant of outcomes among hospitalized patients. Although improvement interventions have been designed for specific settings (eg, intensive care units and operating rooms), less attention has been given to nurse-physician teamwork in hospital medicine. Therefore, our goal was to assess the quality and effectiveness of interventions for improving nurse-physician teamwork [...]

Background: Pulmonary nodules are among the most frequent and medically relevant incidental findings, but are easily overlooked – especially when discovered incidentally during hospitalization. While CT imaging has become an invaluable tool for expedited medical evaluation, its use has been associated with an increasing number of incidental findings, the handling of which creates both medical [...]

Background: EHR time motion studies have shown a significant time burden and concern that bedside manner, physical exam skills and physician wellness are at risk. However, nearly all studies to date have only focused on practicing physicians and residency training programs. Nearly all U.S. based medical schools allow medical student access, thus EHR exposure actually [...]

Background: Balancing attending supervision with resident autonomy is intended to ensure patient safety while allowing trainees to gain graduated competency and independence upon completion of residency. ACGME work-hour restrictions have increased attending supervision, but its effect on resident education and autonomy is unclear. In order to better understand the underlying tensions and contributing factors to [...]