Background: According to AHRQ, patient safety culture refers to the beliefs, values, and norms shared by health care practitioners and other staff throughout the organization that influence their actions and behaviors. Safety reporting (or incident reporting) is an important aspect of safety culture. Safety reporting of adverse events is a valuable epidemiological tool to measure […]

Background: Midlines are peripheral vascular devices inserted in the veins of the upper extremity with the tip located at or below the axillary vein. Greater appreciation of complications associated with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICC) and the diffusion of catheter appropriateness criteria has led to expanded use of these devices. However, single center studies comparing […]

Background: Digital bedside information displays can alert clinicians about patient safety hazards, but the unintended consequences of these interventions are not well understood. Introducing new digital interventions may have implications for clinician satisfaction with the electronic environment, clinical team communication, and patient-centered care. Toward greater understanding of these unintended consequences, we described the content, form, […]

Background: Studies show that family centered rounds (FCR) improve family satisfaction by involving the families in their children’s care (Pediatrics, 2003).  Medical students consistently find FCR beneficial to families but have differing attitudes regarding benefits to the medical team.  Some concerns raised by the students include longer rounds, decreased bedside teaching, and lack of opportunities […]

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: Observational studies suggest unanticipated ICU admissions or cardiac arrests are preceded by hours of unstable clinical signs and symptoms. Medical Emergency Teams (METs) are intended to treat these patients earlier, by identifying them through use of standardized clinical criteria. However, the prevalence of clinically unstable patients on general wards meeting these criteria is not […]

Background: Patients with immune-mediated diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, or inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) are increasingly being prescribed biologics. While biologics may account for roughly 2% of total prescriptions in the United States, they account for over 35% of net drug spending and for over 80% of the growth in net drug spending.1,2 […]

Background: With the advent of value‐based purchasing (VBP), the importance of high‐quality communication skills among hospitalists is receiving greater scrutiny. Purpose: To describe a hospitalist training program using a behavioral bundle (AIDET) to improve patient satisfaction by standardizing performance in particular areas of physician‐to‐patient communication. Description: As part of a health system quality improvement initiative […]

Background: Patients with cancer require reliable venous access for therapy. Although peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs) and implanted ports are often used to meet infusion needs, risk of complications between these devices is unknown. We did a systematic review and meta-analysis to compare the risk of deep vein thrombosis (DVT), exit-site complications and central line-associated […]

Background: Many problems exist regarding inpatient code status: advance directives are rarely completed in outpatient and inpatient settings, patients' preferences regarding code status are often not elicited, physicians do not provide adequate information to allow patients to make informed decisions about code status, code status discussions are often delayed during an admission until it is […]