Background: Patient and family experience have become increasingly important to the hospital community, whereby exceptional patient and family experience is the common ground for all six aims of quality care as defined by the Institute of Medicine in Crossing the Quality Chasm — care that is patient centered, safe, effective, timely, efficient, and equitable (1). [...]

Background: Hospitalists rely on patients’ family members and caregivers to convey medical history, communicate on the patient’s behalf, assist with decision making, participate in care training, partake in discharge planning and provide support. With the rise of COVID-19 infection rates across the country, hospitals promptly enforced strict visitation protocols to prevent transmission, preserve PPE and [...]