Background: Endoscopies are commonly performed in the inpatient setting, and successful completion frequently requires close coordination among nurses, hospitalists, gastroenterologists, and anesthesiologists. Given the complexity of this multidisciplinary involvement, as well as variability in patient factors like clinical stability and presentation, endoscopies are prone to delays. These delays may cause frustration amongst care providers and [...]

Background: To date, there are limited reports around the use of well-designed information technology tools to enhance throughput communication during interdisciplinary rounds (IDRs). In collaboration with our technology innovations center, we developed a Microsoft Teams IDR tool known as “NORA.” NORA is an automated process-oriented tool designed to extract patient summary information from electronic health [...]

Background: Delays in care may lead to increased length of stay and cost. Identifying and quantifying the reasons for these delays could help target interventions and reduce unnecessary hospital days. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study at a large tertiary academic medical center, from October 16, 2016 to November 20, 2016. The study participants [...]

Background: Delays in care can lead to patient harm. At our large urban academic medical center, we have been struggling with increasing inpatient volumes and delays, particularly to enter our medicine, observation, and cardiology units. With a desire to provide more timely care, we used a model that employed queuing theory to predict expected delays [...]

Background: Unintentional discharge delays account for up to 20% of total patient hospital days. Previous studies identified bed availability, scheduling logistics for studies, and poor communication as causes of delay factors. Although discharge requires a team approach, no single study has examinedperceptions of discharge delays among interprofessional team members, including residents and hospitalists, at an [...]

Background: Delays in medical care are frustrating for all stakeholders involved, including patients, their families, and the clinical teams responsible for moving their care forward. These delays, particularly in inpatient care, not only extend hospital stays but also have a cascading effect on patient throughput and inpatient bed availability. Hospitalists regularly navigate these challenges and [...]

Background: Inpatient utilization of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) is rapidly expanding, with potential effects on length of stay (LOS). At the same time, current hospital occupancy remains about 10 percentage points higher than before the pandemic and hospitalizations are projected to increase 11% by 2034. Hospital systems are striving to optimize processes to improve bed [...]