Background: Bedside rounds (BR) have been proposed as an ideal method to promote patient-centered hospital care. However, their effect on patient-centered outcomes is unclear. Our objective was to determine whether BR, when compared to other forms of hospital ward rounds, improve patient-centered outcomes. To accomplish this aim, we conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of [...]

Background: Effective communication between health-care providers, patients and their families is a key aspect of the discussion surrounding a patient’s goals of care.  One crucial part of this process is reaching a shared understanding of how the patient views their own quality of life.   The objective of this study was to characterize factors patients and [...]

Background: A fifth of older adults discharged from the hospital require readmission within 30 days. Readmissions impose an enormous burden on both patients and the healthcare system. Previous investigations have found that less than half of discharged patients are able to understand and execute the discharge plan and are likely to overestimate their comprehension of [...]

Background: Hospitalized patients often crave information about their illness. As many as 70% of outpatients use the internet for this purpose. However, little is known about how often hospitalized patients search for medical information online. Methods: Between June 2018 and October 2018, we conducted a survey of patients hospitalized in our academic hospital medicine service. [...]

Background: Electronic health applications that aim to share personalized medical information with patients are not frequently found in hospital settings. These inpatient applications can empower patients and caregivers to review and monitor their most updated medical information and improve communication between patients and their providers (such as clinicians, nurses, case managers etc.). However, these applications [...]

Background: Patient-centered communication has been associated with positive patient outcomes such as improved patient understanding and adherence to therapy. Teaching patient-centered care (PCC) and communication throughout a hospital stay, with an emphasis on understanding each patient’s perspective and circumstances, is a focus on one of four general inpatient medicine services at our hospital. We did [...]

Background: Although many older adults will be hospitalized in their lifetime, most do not consider or plan ahead for their post-hospitalization support needs. When older adults experience a hospitalization, families often must react to the crisis leaving the older adult out of the decision process (e.g. choosing a skilled nursing facility, caregivers). With PCORI funding, [...]

Background: Reversing the life trajectory of hospitalized patients can be challenging. Sixty percent of Americans die in acute care hospitals. Identification of the patient care goals and directives frequently happens after many days of aggressive, uncomfortable and costly interventions at the hospital. We aimed to elucidate if identification of care goals earlier in Intensive Care [...]

Background: Patient & Family Advisory Councils (PFACs) are groups of patients and caregivers who share their overall experiences of care and perspectives on specific topics with hospital leaders at regular meetings. PFACs provide a crucial supplemental layer of feedback to hospitals outside of HCAHPS survey data and post-discharge phone calls. Hospital Medicine specific PFACs are [...]

Background: To address safety risks with transitions from hospital to home, the IMPACT collaborative designed, tested and implemented the Pediatric Patient Centered Care Transition (PACT) Bundle. The bundle element “perfect” handoff (timely and complete) aimed to improve hospitalist handoff to outpatient providers at hospital discharge.Our objective was to  assess outpatient medical provider’s perceptions of hospitalists’ handoff [...]