Background: As a result of COVID-19, clinical care across the U.S. has changed with virtual services becoming the new normal in many clinics.1-5 How these changes impact patient care following hospitalization is unclear as data are limited.6 We report on characteristics and rates of clinic follow up and satisfaction with care in patients discharged during [...]

Background: Hospital readmission reduction has gained greater awareness since the passage of the Affordable Care Act and within it the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP). Policy makers sought to improve quality of care by increasing reporting transparency and imposing financial penalties on facilities for excessive readmission rates. Baylor Scott & White Health (BSWH) remains committed to reducing hospital readmissions and in doing [...]

Background: Despite a commitment to high-quality medical education, diagnostic errors continue to be pervasive. Clinical presentations with nonspecific symptoms and diagnoses with wide differentials are prone to diagnostic errors; dizziness may be the epitome of this conundrum. Dizziness is a common symptom, costly to assess, and frequently misdiagnosed. Diagnostic decisions have high stakes, given the [...]

Background: The patient-physician relationship is influenced by several factors including the environment of care. Given the increased use of telemedicine – catalyzed by the COVID-19 pandemic – understanding preferences for and comfort with telemedicine is important. This study aimed to explore patient preferences for various types of video visit background environments and their effects on [...]

Background: Patients discharged from the hospital often face challenges accessing timely and effective follow-up care after discharge from the inpatient setting. Prior studies have demonstrated that lack of primary care clinic access can raise patients’ risk of readmission (1, 2). Effectiveness of a virtual transitions of care clinic has not been reported in the literature [...]

Background: Early discharges from inpatient units improve throughput from the Emergency Department (ED) and reduce ED boarding. ED boarding increases patient safety events, provider burnout, and decreases patient satisfaction. Multidisciplinary communication between hospitalists, nursing staff and case management is essential for facilitating early discharges from inpatient medicine units. Such communication frequently requires in-person care coordination [...]

Background: During COVID-19, students, residents and their programs find themselves in a unique situation. Balancing the educational needs of a training program with the safety of trainees is a challenging task, specifically when taking care of patients who are COVID-19 positive or patients under investigation. Purpose: One increasingly available tool that can help protect trainees, [...]

Background: It is imperative for Physician Assistant (PA) students to be exposed to hospital medicine as 40% of practicing PAs identify the hospital as their principal clinical practice setting (1). Many of these rotations were cancelled due to the COVID-19 Pandemic, negatively impacting the 70% of PA programs not affiliated with an academic medical center [...]

Background: COVID-19 has drastically changed medical school curriculum across the country. In March, the AAMC recommended pausing clinical activities for all medical students [1]. In response, the University of New Mexico School of Medicine (UNM SOM) transitioned to a virtual curriculum and implemented a four-week virtual public health course on COVID-19, followed by virtual clerkships [...]

Background: Virtual Hospitalist (VH) care models are emerging in hospital medicine to address workforce shortages and improve patient access. VH programs are any programs where the hospitalist and patient are located at different sites, but the patient requires an acute level of care. This can include arrangements where: 1) the patient is located in a [...]