Background: Large hospital medicine groups of 30 or more physicians comprise over 20% of practices (SHM 2018). Our academic hospital medicine service is comprised of 65 faculty members. We recognized a need for multiple levels of leadership beyond the immediate chief and director of clinical operations. Our team, like most hospital medicine groups, is comprised […]

Background: Hospital medicine is the fastest growing subspecialty within internal medicine, growing from 10,000 hospitalists in 2002 to over 50,000 in 2016. Despite this growth, there remain relatively few hospitalists who are clinician investigators. We sought to quantify the number of clinician investigators, their dedicated time for research at major United States academic medical centers, […]

Background: Patient experience is increasingly recognized as a measure of healthcare quality and patient-centered care. However, there is insufficient understanding of patient expectations during hospitalization, and of how these are perceived by physicians, nurses, and administrators. The best way to apply the HCAHPS ratings remain elusive due to variability in practice environments, patient and clinician […]

Background: Joint leadership- modeled by physician-nurse dyad unit leaders has been a successful leadership structure at our organization for years. Advanced practice providers (APPs) have grown significantly in numbers over the past 10 years and have become critical members of our inpatient healthcare teams. They represent a stable and engaged workforce. In 2016, the nurse-physician […]

Background: Emergency Department (ED) boarders create both hospital flow and clinical care challenges (1). ED boarders are isolated from medical teams based on hospital wards, which can impair coordination between physicians and ED based interprofessional staff (nursing, case management, social work, pharmacy and bed management) and lead to worsened operational and clinical outcomes. As ED […]

Background: Diagnostic errors are common and associated with high patient morbidity and mortality. Cognitive- and system-factors are known contributors to such errors. Diagnostic checklists that target cognitive and behavioral aspects have been suggested as potential ways to reduce diagnostic error. However, little is known about the content of these checklists and their approaches. Methods: We […]

Background: Female physicians are a high-risk group for unintentional weaning, with poor access to lactation stations as one of the reported reasons. Less than half of female physicians are breastfeeding at 6 months, and only 29% are exclusively breastfeeding at 6 months. Often female physicians are pumping in their office, while less than 20% are […]

Background: The US has a heavy burden of deaths from opioid overdoses, and New Mexico is not excepted from this. Treatment options for opioid use disorder (OUD) are buprenorphine/naloxone (“Suboxone”), methadone, naltrexone, counseling, and/or behavioral therapy. Long-acting oral opioids like Suboxone, are the most effective methods for treating opioid withdrawal and OUD. They are often […]

Background: Sexual harassment and gender discrimination are common in medical practice. Hospital medicine is a relatively young and evolving specialty and less is known about their prevalence in this field. This study aims to evaluate the experiences of academic hospitalists regarding this topic. Methods: An anonymous Qualtrics Survey was emailed to hospitalists in the participating […]

Background: The social determinants of health (SDOH) are variable factors, including living conditions, employment environments, and social circumstances that influence peoples’ health and can cause health disparities in communities (WHO, 2019). Physicians recognize the importance of SDOH and understand that social factors impact the health outcomes of their patients; however, they may be hesitant to […]