Background: Although hospitals should be a place of healing and restoration, multiple studies demonstrate that hospitalized patients face acute sleep deprivation due to potentially modifiable disruptions (vitals, medications, tests). Acute inpatient sleep deprivation is also associated with worse health outcomes both in-hospital and post-discharge. While staff-directed sleep interventions show benefits, no study has tested whether [...]

Background: Although hospitals should be a place of healing and restoration, multiple studies demonstrate that hospitalized patients face acute sleep deprivation due to potentially modifiable disruptions (vitals, medications, tests). Acute inpatient sleep deprivation is also associated with worse health outcomes both in-hospital and post-discharge. While staff-directed sleep interventions show benefits, no study has tested whether [...]

Background: Administering opiates safely in hospitalized patients with acute on chronic pain is challenging. There is limited data to guide pain management in this population due to high prevalence of opiate tolerance and variance in daily opiate exposure. There is a need to establish a safe and effective pain medicine regimen in the hospital that stratifies opiates based on [...]

Background: Care of the pediatric patient does not end after the family exits the hospital doors. Post-discharge issues can lead to significant consternation for families, unnecessary risk to the patient, and re-utilization of healthcare resources. Despite careful preparation for transfer of care to the primary care physician (PCP), some post-discharge issues are unanticipated and lead [...]

Background: In the US, 60% of adults have at least one chronic disease (such as diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease) and 42% have more than one. Chronic disease is the leading cause of death and disability and significantly contributes to annual healthcare spending (1). Studies have shown that patient education interventions can improve outcomes in [...]

Background: Hospital discharge is a vulnerable time: patients are at risk for readmission, adverse events, and death. Activated patients–those with the knowledge, confidence, and skills to engage in activities that promote self-management–are more likely to execute a safe discharge plan and less likely to be readmitted. Educational videos focused on self-management may increase patient activation [...]

Background: Discharge planning and transition of care (TOC) is a crucial process for inpatient teams hoping to optimize patient experience and outcomes. Feedback from patients prior to leaving the hospital identifies several areas for improvement, as there are often misunderstandings about hospital courses and treatment plans. Such confusion leads to poor TOC. The Hospital Consumer [...]

Background: Medication errors and adverse drug events are common in the pediatric population. Parents with limited English proficiency have increased risk of management errors and nearly a third of low-income families failed to pick up their child’s prescriptions after hospital discharge, with non-adherence rates as high as 40%. The objective of this study is to [...]

Background: Patient-centered communication, defined as delivering information simply and accurately, is a critical component of health literacy. However, curricula to teach patient-centered communication are not standardized in medical school or residency.  The objective of this study was to evaluate whether a brief educational session can improve the use of patient-centered communication among medical students and [...]

Background: In a technology-driven era, it is no surprise that the majority of learners prefer multimodal resources when learning new material. Patient discharge education is no exception to this, and several studies have demonstrated that providing digital discharge education (DDE) can help with patient comprehension, information retention, and patient self-efficacy with medication (1, 2, 3). [...]