Background: The age‐old practice of writing a doctor's letter of condolence provides a way for physicians to share the grief of losing their patients while communicating the impact of a therapeutic doctor–patient relationship. Studies show that house staff and hospitalists rarely write letters of condolence, citing lack of time, uncertainty of the appropriate expression of […]

Background: There is a significant impact of influenza on the individuals, families, and societies, both economically and clinically, in terms of hospital admissions, medication expenses and side effects, secondary bacterial infections and more days off from work or other forms of reduced productivity for the patients or their caretakers. Our objective is to present the […]

Background: There is literature to suggest there is a subtype of COPD patients in which eosinophils may play an important role. Data suggests that this subset of patient are more prone to develop exacerbations, but also have a higher likelihood of responding to inhaled corticosteroid therapy. The objective of this study is to determine if […]

Background: On the nonteaching service at a large metropolitan teaching hospital, hospitalists were frustrated by inefficient pager‐based communication from nurses frequently consisting of “call back number only” pages in which no other information was communicated such as the person calling, the patient name, the reason for call, or the urgency of the issue at hand. […]

Case Presentation: A 57‐year‐old man with previously untreated Rai stage IV chronic lymphocytic leukemia presented with severe dyspnea on exertion over the last 3 months. He also noted pulsatile tinnitus, lower leg pains with walking, easy bruising, and lower‐extremity edema. Vital signs were normal. He had splenomegaly with the spleen extending 16 cm below the […]

Background: Hospital discharge is a complex process that requires coordination from various parties. There still remains a significant rate of readmission, with a reported 30 day readmission of roughly 20% and annual cost of $18 Billion to Medicare. Patients with adequate discharge planning have a decreased readmission rate. Recent studies that demonstrated that high risk […]

Background: Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity among general population despite recent advancements in goal-directed therapies. The advent of mechanical circulatory devices, the increased availability and improvement in heart transplant techniques have improved some metrics; however, CHF patients continue to have multiple readmissions for acute exacerbations. The frequency of […]

Case Presentation: Septic arthritis of the pubic symphysis is a rare condition that can affect healthy young athletes or women who have undergone a urologic or gynecologic surgery. It is usually misdiagnosed with osteitis pubis, a sterile inflammation of the pubic symphysis in young athletes due to repetitive or strenuous activities. It accounts for fewer […]

Background: Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) is among the top three leading causes of hospital readmissions in the United States. Acute Exacerbation of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease(AECOPD) is associated with increased morbidity, mortality, and cost with AECOPD accounting for more than half of the 15.5 billion USD spent on COPD[1,2]. In this project, we aim […]