Background: Understanding communication between providers and patients is key to providing patient-centered care. We sought to determine if patient’s perception of time spent by physician at bedside is associated with patient satisfaction with physician communication. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of patients admitted to the hospital medicine service. The survey included questions about patient’s [...]

Background: Physicians and nurses often overestimate patients’ understanding of their illness, medications, treatments, and care plans. Fragmented discussions can lead to inconsistent conveyance of key information to patients and their caregivers. Multidisciplinary bedside rounds are an essential opportunity to facilitate patient-centered care. Our medical-surgical units did not have a standardized approach to ensuring consistent, clear [...]

Background: Attending evaluations by medical students have many implications including promotion, teaching opportunities, job satisfaction and reputation both for individuals and for groups. In addition to teaching on traditional ward teams with housestaff and students, hospitalists are more commonly teaching in an apprenticeship model, where an attending, often carrying a full census, directly supervises and [...]

Background: In an academic center, a physician team may be comprised of medical students, interns, residents, fellows and an attending. Patients encounter multiple members from the same physician team and this often leads to confusion in regards to their individual care. It is evident that this leads to patient confusion and misunderstandings can ensue. A [...]

Background: Fewer than one in three patients can correctly name a physician on their inpatient care team. Despite the fact, factors associated with correctly naming a physician have not been adequately explored. This study evaluates whether physician behaviors and patient characteristics are associated with a patient’s ability to correctly name their hospitalist physician. Methods: We [...]

Background: Engaged healthcare team members are more likely to be satisfied with their job and remain in their organizations (1-3). However, little is known about the effects of burnout on work engagement in hospital nurses. Therefore, we examined the relationship between burnout, work engagement, and job satisfaction in nurses in a tertiary referral hospital. Methods: [...]

Background: Preliminary data from the 2018 Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine (CDIM) survey showed that in about 50% of both academic and community medical centers, medical students rotate directly with attendings (1). This number has increased by 400% from 2010, the last year for which data is available (2). In our institution, hospital medicine (HM) [...]

Background: Studies have shown a direct relationship between patient satisfaction and patients following their physician’s recommendations which leads to favorable patient outcomes. While several physician and patient-specific characteristics have been found to be associated with patient satisfaction, the effect of patient’s spirituality on patient satisfaction with hospitalization has not been examined.  Methods: Hospitalized patients older [...]

Background: Pain remains a major concern for medically hospitalized adults, and pain treatment is a focus of hospital quality reporting and improvement efforts. Pharmacologic treatment during hospitalization for acute pain and cancer pain rest on some evidence, but as many as 1 in 3 adult medical inpatients suffer from chronic pain. Little is known about [...]

Background: Correct inhaler technique for COPD medications is essential to achieving optimum delivery into the lungs. Evidence suggests that poor technique is widespread and linked to poor efficacy and adherence. However, the direct relationship between inhaler technique and health status has not been investigated.  Methods: Data from a 2013 US survey dataset of COPD patients [...]