Background: As the volume of inpatient clinical support tasks (non-direct patient care tasks) has increased, there has been increasing frustration amongst the internal medicine residents at our institution with the efficiency and educational value of their inpatient internal medicine ward experience. This is consistent with similar frustrations amongst trainees and hospitalists across the country. “You [...]

Background: Academic children’s hospitals are increasingly partnering with community hospitals to provide inpatient neonatal and pediatric care in the patient’s own community. Although some academic hospitals are hesitant to form these partnerships due to concern for decreasing incoming transfers, few studies report the true effect of such collaboration. Our strategy involved such a partnership that [...]

Background: Although hospitals and hospitalists often engage in work to improve patient care and quality, rarely does such work directly seek engagement from patients and communities. Even when direct to patient surveys are distributed, historically marginalized populations are often underrepresented. Understanding how to authentically engage with communities is integral to improving patient experience and ensuring [...]

Background: Sound Hospital Medicine (HM) and Sound Emergency Medicine (EM) staff a 385-bed hospital in California. The Utilization Review (UR) nurses in the ER were not following the hospital’s Utilization Management (UM) Plan of doing initial InterQual reviews before the hospitalist wrote the initial admission order because of the focus on disposition from the ER. [...]

Background: Hospital medicine has expanded significantly over the last two decades but faces a higher physician turnover rate compared to other specialties1 and a critical shortage of providers. A survey conducted in 2019 and again in 2022 showed a reduction in the number of hospitalists identified as being “very satisfied” with their career (from 55% [...]

Background: Insurance companies are issuing more denials and causing financial instability for hospitals. On average, hospitals are paid $6,000 less for a patient in outpatient observation status as compared to inpatient status. According to Kaiser Family Foundation Health, the average expense in 2022 for a hospital per inpatient day was $3,025 and is only increasing. [...]