Background: Substantial portions of hospitalized patients in the United States do not understand their plan of care. Hospitalized patients’ knowledge of their plan of care affects their ability to provide truly informed consent and assent to inpatient treatment, and to assume their medical care after discharge. There is a need for further study of the [...]

Background: The use of whiteboards in the inpatient setting has become increasingly prevalent as a potentially effective tool for prevention of communication failures and improved multidisciplinary care. Provider and nursing surveys indicate that this tool is useful when utilized, however the true impact on patient satisfaction outcomes remains unclear. Moreover, little is known about the [...]

Case Presentation: A 54-year-old male with a history of obesity, asthma, alcohol use disorder, tobacco use disorder, and hepatic steatosis presented with anasarca. Transthoracic echocardiogram did not demonstrate evidence of heart failure, urinalysis revealed trace proteinuria, and liver ultrasound showed patent vasculature. Albumin was 2.5. The anasarca persisted despite diuresis. Over the next two months, [...]

Background: The Institute of Medicine includes patient-centeredness as an essential component of high-quality patient care. One dimension of patient-centeredness is the need for physicians to provide clear communication to patients (1). The Hospital Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HCAHPS) survey also measures physician communication skill.Patient perception of physician communication is complex. Visual aids [...]

Background: As of 2020, COVID-19 is the third leading cause of death after heart disease and cancer. COVID-19 accounted for more than a million hospitalization in the USA since the onset of the pandemic. Our aim is to investigate the impact of racial disparities on the outcome of COVID-19 admissions. Methods: We queried the National [...]

Background: Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) is an antibody-mediated pro-thrombotic disorder which occurs after exposure to heparin product. Diagnosis of HIT type II is rather challenging as affected individual often has other causes of thrombocytopenia and a delayed discontinuation of heparin in HIT type II is associated with a mortality rate of 20-30%. 4Ts score is a [...]

Background: Thrombocytopenia is common in hospitalized patients. Heparin Induced thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a life threatening condition which can lead to extensive thrombosis. Diagnosis of HIT relies on clinical suspicion determined by 4T score, and the immunoassays through testing for anti PF4/Heparin antibodies. Clinical practice guidelines published by the American Society of Hematology (2013) recommended to [...]

Background:  Recent Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) rules require hospitals to have their physicians submit inpatient admission orders and certification prior to a patient’s discharge in order to justify hospitalization reimbursement; however, CMS does not specify how hospitals are to achieve this regulation. Use of Health Information Technology (HIT) tools has significantly expanded, [...]

Background: Inpatient bedside whiteboards enhance patient-provider communication and satisfaction with care, but little is known about patients’ perspectives on the whiteboards. Our objectives were to understand patients’ views on the usability and design/content of these boards; and assess nursing views on current practice of whiteboard utilization, including barriers and suggestions to optimal use. Methods: We [...]

Background: Heparin-Induced Thrombocytopenia (HIT) is a rare (0.1-1% of heparinized medical patients) but devastating (up to 10% mortality) side-effect of heparin administration[1].  In thrombocytopenic patients, the pre-test probability of HIT is estimated by the validated “4Ts Score”, which is used to risk-stratify patients into Low (0-3 points), Intermediate (4-5 points), and High (6-8 points) likelihoods [...]