Background: Facilitating safe transitions of care is a common concern for the discharging hospitalist. Telephone calls are the most common method of contact for post-discharge outreach. These are labor-intensive and therefore limited in scope. To better support patients after hospital discharge, we designed and implemented a 30-day automated texting program. In a pilot study, this [...]

Background: Clinicians face an overwhelming volume of communication through various channels, including phone calls, text messages, emails, in-person interruptions, and secure messaging systems. This information overload is increasing[1] and poses significant challenges. Despite the availability of communication tools, failures in communication remain the leading cause of preventable medical errors [2]. Secure messaging systems, while essential, [...]

Background: Ten to twenty percent of U.S. hospitalizations are avoidable, driven by clinical uncertainty, social factors, or lack of access to ambulatory care [1-3]. These unnecessary admissions result in significant human and financial costs, including in-hospital errors, wasteful spending, and medical debt [4-7]. With hospital occupancy reaching critical levels, we designed and launched the Olive [...]

Background: Communicating to physicians about electronic health record (EHR) software updates is important for maintaining clinical workflow and preserving patient safety. However, reaching providers with mass e-mails is challenging; the optimal strategy for educating providers about EHR updates remains unclear. Purpose: Modify our communication strategy to improve inpatient physicians’ understanding of EHR software updates. Description: [...]

Background: Facilitating safe transitions of care is a common concern for the discharging hospitalist. Telephone calls are the most common method of contact for post-discharge outreach. These are labor-intensive and therefore limited in scope. To better support patients after hospital discharge, we designed and implemented a 30-day automated texting program. In a pilot study, this [...]

Background: Discharge planning should begin at the time of admission and involve preparing patients for the transition out of the hospital. Unfortunately, many hospitalized patients disagree with their provider about their discharge plan, including what needs to be accomplished in the hospital or the dismissal’s timing and location. When patients and their providers do not [...]

Background: Bedside nurses often communicate via alphanumeric (text) paging with hospitalists and other providers. To help the nurse and provider triage the urgency of these messages, our institution has implemented a tiered paging labeling system based on message priority, but the use of this labeling system and the concordance between provider perception and nurse perception [...]

Background: Effective interpersonal communication is critical in healthcare. Historically, pagers, phone calls, and in-person conversations have been the main form of in-hospital communication. New communication technologies, such as electronic messaging, are increasingly becoming the primary way for healthcare workers to communicate. In 2017, 27% of Society of Hospital Medicine responding organizations reported some use of [...]

Background: The medical rounds are the most essential process in care of the hospitalized patients. If the patients do not receive enough information about the round-time, they cannot arrange their personal time in the hospital. The object of this study is to investigate the effect of the real-time round notification using text messages on the [...]

Background: Obesity affects a large majority of the U.S. population, and hospitalizations may represent opportunities to intervene and promote weight loss.  We sought to determine if multidisciplinary patient-centered inpatient weight loss consults, post-discharge telephone text messages, and primary care follow up could result in weight loss. Methods: We conducted a feasibility study comparing 25 obese [...]