Background: Trauma co-management is a growing field within hospital medicine. While improvements in quality metrics have been documented in other co-management services, the impact of co-management of trauma patients is uncertain. This study aimed to determine whether a hospitalist trauma co-management program improves clinical outcomes. Methods: This was a pre- and post-implementation study comparing trauma [...]

Background: Sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock remain important contributors to hospital utilization, morbidity and mortality in the United States. Timely interventions including blood cultures, intravenous crystalloid infusions, and antibiotics make up the 3-hour sepsis bundle which represents current standard of practice, and the target of hospital quality reporting. Many aspects of sepsis care are [...]

Background: Little is known about how to effectively train residents with point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS) despite increasing usage. This study sought to assess whether handheld ultrasound devices (HUDs), alongside a year-long lecture series, improved trainee image interpretation skills with POCUS. Methods: Internal medicine intern physicians (n=149) at a single academic institution from 2016-18 participated in the [...]

Background: Academic children’s hospitals are increasingly partnering with community hospitals to provide inpatient neonatal and pediatric care in the patient’s own community. Although some academic hospitals are hesitant to form these partnerships due to concern for decreasing incoming transfers, few studies report the true effect of such collaboration. Our strategy involved such a partnership that [...]

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation is a commonly utilized procedure used for patients with chronic liver disease and resistant portal hypertension. Previous studies have explored the trends and short-term outcomes in TIPS procedures. This study aims to further compare short-term in-hospital outcomes of patients with chronic kidney disease when undergoing TIPS. Methods: This [...]

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation is a commonly utilized procedure used for patients with chronic liver disease and resistant portal hypertension. Previous studies have explored the trends and short-term outcomes in TIPS procedures. This study aims to further compare short-term in-hospital outcomes of patients with coagulation disorders when undergoing TIPS. Methods: This retrospective [...]

Background: Transjugular intrahepatic portosystemic shunt (TIPS) creation is a commonly utilized procedure used for patients with chronic liver disease and resistant portal hypertension. Previous studies have explored the trends and short-term outcomes in TIPS procedures. This study aims to further compare short-term in-hospital outcomes of patients with diabetes mellitus (DM) when undergoing TIPS. Methods: This [...]

Background: The approach to managing and admitting patients with syncope in an emergency setting lacks standardization. Our study aims to investigate how regional variation in management of emergency department (ED) patients presenting with syncope impacts outcomes and resource utilization in this patient population. Methods: We used the 2006 to 2014 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample to [...]

Background: ST-segment elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMI) is a significant cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Inter-hospital transfers (IHT) are becoming the standard for treatment of ST-elevation myocardial infarctions (STEMIs) as specialized care is often concentrated at tertiary centers. The American Heart Association and the American College of Cardiology (AHA/ACC) recommends door-to-balloon time [...]

Background: Thoughtful laboratory testing is a key component of high-value and cost-effective patient care. Studies estimate that nearly half of laboratory tests may be unnecessary in certain patient populations. The drivers of observed variation in laboratory testing are not clearly established; our study aims to examine whether testing varies by hospitalist years of experience. Methods: [...]