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: With the advance of medicine and aging society, elderly inpatients occupy a greater proportion of admission. However, few studies deal with this issue in the literature. We investigated the clinical determinants of hospitalization duration and overall outcome in a specific population, patients older than 90. Methods: We retrospectively enrolled all admitted patients aged > […]

Background: A specialized team to perform nonemergent invasive procedures is desired within hospitals Hospitalists are the ideal candidates to meet such demands. Because of the recent de‐emphasis by ABIM on proving manual proficiency of bedside procedures as a requisite for certification, there has been a steady decline in the number of physicians trained. These procedures […]

Background: Medicare observation stays are increasing nationally. Beneficiaries frequently hospitalized under observation, as well as those needing post-acute care skilled nursing facility coverage, may face increased financial burdens from these services. Patients living in the most disadvantaged neighborhoods have increased risk of inpatient 30-day re-admissions. It is not known whether neighborhood socioeconomic disadvantage increases 30-day […]

Background: Hospital Medicine is being increasingly involved in improving various metrices of inpatient care such as length of stay and cost of care. Patients who do not meet ‘inpatient criteria’ often contribute to significant financial costs to hospitals and remain in ‘observation status’ during their hospital stay. Observations units which were introduced by emergency doctors […]

Case Presentation: A 63‐year‐old man with diabetes complicated by peripheral neuropathy presented with increasing right lower‐extremity weakness and a recent fall 2 days prior to admission. His vital signs and physical exam were unremarkable with the exception of a 2 × 2 cm nontender, nonfluctuant stage 2 decubitus ulcer on his right gluteal fold. After […]

Case Presentation: The patient was a 24‐year‐old white woman with a history of rheumatoid arthritis diagnosed 1 year ago. She presented with symptoms of diffuse postprandial abdominal pain, nausea, and generalized fatigue for a few months. Her symptoms acutely worsened over the course of 3 days, with radiation of sharp abdominal pain to the chest, […]

Background: Observation status was designed to reduce health care costs for patients in need of short hospital stays. CMS suggests that observation care should typically require less than 24 hours, and only rarely last more than 48 hours. However, studies suggest that length of stay for observation patients is often longer than CMS guidance.[1,2] An […]

Background: Over the last 2 decades there has been increasing adoption of Observation (OBS) units across the healthcare facilities in United States. Health reforms like 2 midnight rule and 30 day readmission penalties, congestion in the ED, poor operational outcomes in OBS population mixed with inpatients (IP) etc. further added to the need for dedicated […]

Case Presentation: A 5‐month‐old female with worsening skin rash for 2 months was admitted for evaluation. The rash began as generalized flesh colored papules on the upper chest and antecubital fossae. Initially, the patient was treated with OTC moisturizing creams. However, the rash began to spread to include her face and abdomen. The color changed […]