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Abstract Objectives Queuing theory suggests that signing up for multiple patients at once (batching) can negatively affect patients’ length of stay (LOS). At academic centers, resident assignment adds a second layer to this effect. In this study, we measured the rate of batched patient assignment by resident physicians, examined the effect on patient in‐room LOS, and surveyed residents on underlying drivers and perceptions of batching. Methods This was a retrospective study of discharged patients from August 1, 2020 to October 27, 2020, supplemented with survey data conducted at a large, urban, academic hospital with an emergency medicine training program in which residents self‐assign to patients. Time stamps were extracted from the electronic health record and a definition of batching was set based on findings of a published time and motion study. Results A total of 3794 patients were seen by 28 residents and ultimately discharged during the study period. Overall, residents batched 23.7% of patients, with a greater rate of batching associated with increasing resident seniority and during the first hour of resident shifts. In‐room LOS for batched assignment patients was 15.9 minutes longer than single assignment patients (P value

Background While prior studies have linked the neighborhood environment and development of subclinical atherosclerosis, it is unknown whether living in neighborhoods with greater availability of “unhealthy” food outlets (fast‐food chain restaurants and convenience stores) is associated with risk of developing coronary artery calcification (CAC). Methods and Results We included 2706 CARDIA study (Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults) participants who underwent CAC measurement during follow‐up years 15 (2000–2001), 20 (2005–2006), and 25 (2010–2011). Neighborhood features examined included percentage of all food outlets that were convenience stores and fast‐food chain restaurants within a 3‐km Euclidean buffer distance from each participant's residence. Econometric fixed effects models, which by design control for all time‐invariant covariates, were used to model the longitudinal association between simultaneous within‐person change in percentage food outlet and change in CAC. At baseline (year 15), 9.7% of participants had prevalent CAC. During 10 years of follow‐up, 21.1% of participants developed CAC. Each 1‐SD increase in percentage of convenience stores was associated with a 1.34 higher odds of developing CAC (95% CI: 1.04, 1.72) after adjusting for individual‐ and neighborhood‐level covariates; however, there was no significant association between increased percentage of fast‐food chain restaurants and developing CAC (odds ratio=1.15; 95% CI: 0.96, 1.38). There were no significant associations between increases in either food outlet percentage and progression of CAC. Conclusions Our findings suggest that increases in the relative availability of convenience stores in participants' neighborhoods is related to the development of CAC over time.