Background: Discharge planning should begin at the time of admission and, among its many purposes, involves preparing patients for the transition out of the hospital. Unfortunately, many hospitalized patients do not understand or agree with their provider about their discharge plan, including the timing and location of dismissal. When patients and their providers do not [...]

Background: Early diagnosis and treatment of sepsis improves patient outcomes. Diagnosis requires an objective component (currently at least two Systemic Inflammatory Response Criteria, SIRS) and a subjective, clinical suspicion of infection.  While much attention has been placed recently on the ideal objective criteria to accurately identify sepsis, little is known about the agreement among providers [...]

Background: Previous studies demonstrate patient readmissions to the Medical Intensive Care unit (MICU) from the ward are potentially associated with worse outcomes due to breakdowns in communication during ICU-ward transfer. Though previous work highlights the importance of shared mental models (whether clinicians have a mutual understanding) during handoffs, no studies examined the prevalence of a [...]