Background: Rising inpatient census, limited physical space and unpredictable admission rates introduce communication inefficiencies among doctors, nurses and patients. Purpose: At UC San Diego Health System, we aimed to streamline communication among physicians, patients and other care team members. Description: Two operational changes were made: 1) establishment of team-based geographic cohorting and 2) segregation of [...]

Background: Improving a patient’s experience with the health care system improves outcomes of care. Glickman et al found that higher patient satisfaction is associated with improved adherence and lower inpatient mortality rates. Boulding et al found that higher patient satisfaction was associated with lower 30- day readmission rates for patients with heart failure, acute MI [...]

Background: Unconscious bias within the U.S. health care system has been linked with disparities in the treatment of patients by age, gender, and race (1). While many factors contribute to these disparities, implicit bias may play a significant role. Stigmatizing language often reflects the implicit bias that healthcare providers possess toward patients (2). Recent research [...]

Background: Family members and caregivers serve valuable roles at the hospitalized patient’s bedside as emotional support systems, patient advocates, and decision makers (1). Hospital visitation restrictions (such as those implemented during the COVID-19 pandemic) may come at a cost to patient and caregiver perceptions of care quality and patient safety. Congruent with CDC guidelines during [...]

Background: The medical rounds are the most essential process in care of the hospitalized patients. If the patients do not receive enough information about the round-time, they cannot arrange their personal time in the hospital. The object of this study is to investigate the effect of the real-time round notification using text messages on the [...]

Background: The transition from adolescent to adult care has been associated with worse outcomes including increased mortality (1). Improved patient experience (PEX) correlates with decreased inpatient mortality rates and better adherence to quality guidelines (2) as well as lower 30- day readmission rates for patients with heart failure, acute MI and pneumonia (3). Hospitalized adolescents [...]

Background: Co-management across service lines has become increasingly common in hospital medicine. SHM’s Co-Management Task Force has outlined several components of a successful co-management program. Recent studies have shown that cross-disciplinary service arrangements, which are more collaborative, enhance provider satisfaction and may improve patient care. These benefits have encouraged institutions to roll out multiple co-management [...]

Background: The patient-physician relationship is influenced by several factors including the environment of care. Given the increased use of telemedicine – catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic – understanding preferences for and comfort with telemedicine is important. This study aimed to explore patient preferences for various types of video visit background environments and their effects on [...]

Background: For hospitalists who are at the forefront of inpatient general medicine, clear communication is crucial to a successful provider-patient relationship and optimal care delivery. Uncertainty around provider roles and medical terminology can negatively impact patients’ experience and understanding of their care. Therefore, the aim of this study is to assess patients’ understanding of the [...]

Background: “Hospital at Home” (HaH) models of care have existed for over 20 years in the U.S. Recent demand for healthcare value, advances in relevant technologies, and the ongoing global pandemic have driven renewed attention to HaH models, including from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and have spawned several pilots within the [...]