Case Presentation: A 56‐year‐old woman presented to the emergency room with left ear pain with sanguineous drainage for 2 days. She had a history of biopsy‐proven benign left ear mass 1 year prior, but was lost to follow‐up. She was febrile, tachycardic, hypertensive, and had leukocytosis. Initial management included volume resuscitation, analgesics and acetaminophen, and […]

Background: Asthma, bronchiolitis, and pneumonia are common pediatric inpatient diagnoses. Viral testing (VT) is not routinely necessary for these diagnoses as it often does not impact management. Our study objectives for each diagnosis are to; 1) describe trends in VT over the last 5 years including seasonal variation (respiratory season- Oct-March versus non-respiratory season- April-Sept), […]

Case Presentation: A 46‐year‐old man presented with a weeklong history of abdominal cramps and sharp, substernal chest pain, with associated fevers up to 39.4°C, chills, and fatigue. On presentation, a CT of the abdomen and pelvis was notable only for small bilateral pleural effusions. He was given pain medication and discharged home. Given his history […]

Background: Uncontrolled asthma leading to emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalization causes suffering, disproportionately among underserved patients, and are costly to healthcare systems. Timely treatment and adherence to clinical guidelines via serial monitoring of patients’ reported symptoms, offers the opportunity to improve health outcomes that are important to patients, clinicians, and accountable care organizations (ACO). […]

Case Presentation: A 78-year-old woman with severe persistent asthma on a maximum dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) was admitted for lethargy and skin nodules on her thighs. She had three hospital admissions in the past two months for reported pneumonia. She was found to have fever, left basilar crackles, and multiple violaceous, firm, tender subcutaneous […]

Case Presentation: A 78-year-old woman with severe persistent asthma on a maximum dose of inhaled corticosteroids (ICS) was admitted for lethargy and skin nodules on her thighs. She had three hospital admissions in the past two months for reported pneumonia. She was found to have fever, left basilar crackles, and multiple violaceous, firm, tender subcutaneous […]