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Three years after the start of the SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19) pandemic, its effects continue to affect society and COVID-19 vaccination campaigns continue to be a topic of controversy and inconsistent practice. After experiencing spikes in COVID-19 cases, our University of California Davis Health Division of Hospital Medicine sought to understand the reasons underlying the low COVID-19 vaccination rates in our county and find approaches to improve the number of vaccinations among adults admitted to the inpatient setting. This quality improvement project aimed to increase COVID-19 primary and booster vaccine efforts through a multi-pronged approach of increased collaboration with specialised staff and optimisation of use of our electronic health record system.Our key interventions focused on developing a visual reminder of COVID-19 vaccine status using the functionality of our electronic medical record (EMR), standardising documentation of COVID-19 vaccine status and enhancing team-based vaccination discussions through team huddles and partnering with inpatient care coordinators. While our grassroots approach enhanced COVID-19 vaccination rates in the inpatient setting and had additional benefits such as increased collaboration among teams, system-level efforts often made a greater impact at our healthcare centre. For other institutions interested in increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates, our top three recommendations include integrating vaccination into pre-existing workflows, optimising EMR functionality and increasing vaccine accessibility in the inpatient setting.

Background: Patients requiring admission to the general medicine wards in a public hospital are usually assessed by a medical registrar. This study is based at a metropolitan public hospital in Melbourne where the majority of general medicine patients in the emergency department (ED) are not seen by a consultant physician until they are transferred to the ward. Aims: To assess the impact of general medicine consultant‐led ward rounds (CWRs) in the ED on patient length of stay (LOS). Methods: One‐month audit was conducted of all patients admitted to general medicine and awaiting transfer to ward from ED at a metropolitan public hospital in Melbourne. A general medicine CWR was then implemented in the ED, followed by another 1‐month audit, with the primary outcome being LOS and the secondary outcome being 30‐day readmission rate. Additionally, admitting medical registrars were invited to complete a survey before and after the implementation of CWRs to assess satisfaction rate. Results: Data from electronic medical records were analysed for 162 patients (90 preimplementation group and 72 postimplementation group). The median LOS was 6 days in the preimplementation group and 4 days in the postimplementation group (P = 0.014). There was no significant difference in 30‐day readmission rates. Surveys showed admitting medical registrars reported a reduced level of stress and fewer barriers to seeking consultant input following implementation. Conclusions: A CWR in the ED has led to decreased LOS for general medicine patients and improved satisfaction among junior medical staff. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Medical hospitalizations are relatively common among individuals who have substance use disorders (SUDs) and represent opportunities for patient engagement and treatment. Posthospitalization transitions of care are an important element of providing full-spectrum inpatient SUD care; however, little is known about clinicians' experiences with postdischarge care transitions. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional study surveying hospital-based medical clinicians (ie, “hospitalists”) across 2 large health systems in the state of Utah to assess current practices, barriers, facilitators, and perceptions toward posthospitalization care transitions for patients with SUDs. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to identify the most impactful barriers and facilitators among all respondents. We used logistic regression models to explore the influence of hospitalists' attitudes toward providing SUD care on perceived barriers and facilitators. Results: The survey was distributed to 429 individuals across 15 hospitals. Eighty-two hospitalists responded to the survey (response rate, 21.4%). Most respondents frequently cared for hospitalized patients with SUDs (n = 63, 77%) and prescribed medications for SUDs (n = 44, 56%). Four respondents (5%) felt that patients received adequate support during care transitions. Lack of social support (P < 0.001) and social factors such as lack of transportation (P < 0.001) were perceived as the largest barriers to successful care transitions. Conversely, a partnering outpatient clinic/ clinician (P < 0.001) and outpatient-based care coordination (P < 0.001) were perceived as the strongest facilitators. Respondents' attitudes toward people with SUDs had a modest effect on perceived barriers and facilitators. Conclusions: Hospitalists perceived increased outpatient SUD treatment infrastructure and transitional care supports as most important in facilitating posthospitalization care transitions for patients with SUDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: There has been growing interest in generalists in Japan in recent years. However, due to the diverse use of the term "generalist", the specific roles of these physicians remain ambiguous. Consequently, the target population for research on generalists is unclear, making it challenging to conduct studies within the generalist practice framework. Therefore, a literature search was conducted to examine how generalists are defined and classified in research worldwide. Methods: We conducted a literature search that focused exclusively on articles written in English and used keywords related to generalists, general medicine (GM), primary care, and family medicine. Based on the results, six physicians working in GM reviewed the findings and discussed the identified issues and their potential solutions. Results: The definition of generalists in studies targeting GM, family medicine, and primary care conducted worldwide, including Japan, varies. Generalists exhibit diverse roles even within university hospitals in Japan. No studies provide a precise categorization or definition of generalists based on specific medical practices or roles, except for hospitalists, who are primarily involved in inpatient management in the United States. Conclusion: The definition of GM was unclear based on the results of the literature search, and the lack of uniformity in backgrounds has rendered the target population unclear. Consequently, in healthcare settings where medical systems vary by country or region, evidence from studies targeting generalists cannot readily apply to actual practice. Clarifying generalists through an explicit definition based on clinical practice will allow for a more precise target population for research on generalists and enable the accumulation of evidence related to well-defined groups of generalists, contributing to the advancement of GM. Therefore, future research is required to develop new indicators to precisely classify and define generalists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Diagnostic errors cause significant patient harm. The clinician's ultimate goal is to achieve diagnostic excellence in order to serve patients safely. This can be accomplished by learning from both errors and successes in patient care. However, the extent to which clinicians grow and navigate diagnostic errors and successes in patient care is poorly understood. Clinically experienced hospitalists, who have cared for numerous acutely ill patients, should have great insights from their successes and mistakes to inform others striving for excellence in patient care. Objective: To identify and characterize clinical lessons learned by experienced hospitalists from diagnostic errors and successes. Design: A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect qualitative data from hospitalists at five independently administered hospitals in the Mid-Atlantic area from February to June 2022. Participants: 12 academic and 12 community-based hospitalists with ≥ 5 years of clinical experience. Approach: A constructivist qualitative approach was used and "reflexive thematic analysis" of interview transcripts was conducted to identify themes and patterns of meaning across the dataset. Results: Five themes were generated from the data based on clinical lessons learned by hospitalists from diagnostic errors and successes. The ideas included appreciating excellence in clinical reasoning as a core skill, connecting with patients and other members of the health care team to be able to tap into their insights, reflecting on the diagnostic process, committing to growth, and prioritizing self-care. Conclusions: The study identifies key lessons learned from the errors and successes encountered in patient care by clinically experienced hospitalists. These findings may prove helpful for individuals and groups that are authentically committed to moving along the continuum from diagnostic competence towards excellence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multiple professional societies have emphasized the importance of professional development for physicians. This qualitative study aimed to explore pediatric hospitalists' perceptions of professional development needs and to refine a framework for professional development in pediatric hospital medicine (PHM). We conducted four focus groups in April to May 2019 with 19 pediatric hospitalists at six clinical sites within a single institution. Participants identified key components of professional development including skill development, personal growth, career satisfaction, and individualization. Hospitalists agreed upon 8 domains of professional development: clinical excellence, advocacy, global health, health care administration, informatics, medical education, quality improvement, and research. They also identified missing the mentorship necessary to change their passions into career advancement, highlighted barriers and facilitators, and noted that an alignment in personally meaningful projects to what is meaningful to the institution was in everyone's best interests. Faculty programs should build infrastructure to aid pediatric hospitalists in achieving their career goals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The past 2 decades have seen dramatic growth in the number of obstetrics and gynecology hospitalists, and many hospitals have created obstetrical-specific emergency departments. The goals of an obstetrics emergency department are to provide safe and efficient care to the pregnant dyad and postpartum patient, while generating revenue for emergency services provided. In an obstetrics emergency department, all patients must be evaluated in person by a licensed practitioner, whereas historically they may have been evaluated in person by nursing staff or a trainee. We make the argument that formation of an obstetrics emergency department has the potential to improve the safety and quality of patient care. In addition, the financial benefits to institutions are substantial and can subsidize the cost of maintaining obstetrician presence all the time in the hospital. There are various regulatory requirements to become certified, accredited, and licensed as an emergency department. In addition, there are many operational and systems issues that institutions should consider before implementation. We provide a guide for healthcare systems considering creating an obstetrics emergency department. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Homogeneous waiting group (HWG) criteria are central to the patient referral process, guiding primary care physicians and hospitalists in directing patient care to specialists. This cross-sectional observational study, conducted in South Tyrol, Italy, in 2023, aimed to assess the implementation and impact of HWG criteria on healthcare from the perspective of general practitioners and hospital physicians. A questionnaire was developed to gain knowledge about referral practices as perceived by general practitioners and specialists. The survey included 313 participants (82 general practitioners and 231 hospital physicians) and was designed to capture a range of factors influencing the application of HWG criteria, including communication and collaboration practices. The results showed moderate levels of familiarity with HWG criteria and opinions about the need for criteria refinement among hospitalists, indicating that further education and refinement of these criteria are warranted. Both general practitioners and hospital physicians expressed dissatisfaction with the current specialist referral system, highlighting the significant gaps in effective communication and collaboration. The survey also demonstrated the influence of patient demands and waiting times on referral practices, and the need for streamlined and accessible specialist care. This study highlights the need for improvement and adaptation of HWG criteria to better meet the needs of healthcare providers and patients in South Tyrol. By addressing the identified gaps in communication, collaboration, and education related to the HWG system, the efficiency, effectiveness, and patient-centeredness of the referral process can be improved, ultimately leading to better health outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Protected time is an important determinant of scholarly success in academic hospital medicine but is a limited resource. Objective: To explore how hospitalists procure protected time for scholarship from the perspective of academic hospital medicine leaders. Design: Qualitative, thematic analysis of in-depth, semi-structured interviews. Participants: Ten division leaders of academic hospital medicine groups in the USA (3 female, 7 male). Approach: Thematic analysis, from a realist paradigm, of individually conducted interviews to explore how hospitalists obtain protected time with a focus from the leaders' perspectives on sources and strategies. Division leaders of groups known to have a reputation for regularly publishing peer-reviewed scholarship were purposively sampled and a snowball sampling technique was used to identify subsequent participants. Trustworthiness was verified by member-check with a subgroup of participants. Key Results: Hospitalists wanting to pursue research must often start by utilizing personal time. Protected time from divisions is allocated to an individual, a project, or as administrative time. Sources of protected time are conceptualized as a hierarchy, beginning with personal time, and moving through divisional support, intramural support, and, principally for research track hospitalists, extramural support. Scaling the hierarchy is a process of demonstrating productivity and employing tactics to align projects with goals of the funders. Accessing the extramural funding tier is predicated on structured skills training, which is often acquired in early career and thus generally inaccessible to hospitalists not on a predetermined research track. Conclusions: The prevailing paradigm for accessing protected time is one which encourages and rewards pursuing research work during non-work hours. As a hospitalist becomes more senior, the focus shifts from proving earnestness to becoming adept at navigating the institutional system as insiders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Hip fractures are associated with high morbidity and mortality, the rates of which can be improved by comprehensive care. To improve hospitalist co-management of hip fractures, we designed and implemented hip fracture template (HFT), a flagging and risk stratification algorithm system. It includes consideration of perioperative management and preventative measures against hip fractures. We examined its effect on morbidity in patients with hip fractures and the factors associated with complications. Methods: We conducted a retrospective cohort study of patients who underwent surgery for hip fracture. The primary outcome was the perioperative complication rate, comparing patients managed with and without HFT. Multivariate analysis was adjusted for age, gender, and any significant variables shown in univariate analysis. Results: HFT was used in 121 patients and not used in 147 patients. In univariate analysis, patients were less likely to have complications if HFT was used (19.0% vs. 29.9%, P = 0.047), but there was no difference in length of stay (17 days vs. 17 days, P = 0.27) or in-hospital-mortality (0.8% vs. 0.7%, P = 1.00) between the groups. In adjusted analysis, patients managed by HFT had lower likelihood of complications (OR 0.55, 95% CI 0.31–0.98). Among patients managed by HFT, those with revised cardiac risk index (RCRI) ≥ 1 were more likely to have complications in both univariate (42.1% vs. 14.7%, P = 0.01) and adjusted analysis (OR 3.37, 95% CI 1.03–10.84). Conclusion: Patients with hip fractures managed with HFT were less likely to have complications, especially those with RCRI ≥ 1, suggesting benefits of using HFT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ObjectiveAs part of a project to implement antimicrobial dashboards at select facilities, we assessed physician attitudes and knowledge regarding antibiotic prescribing.DesignAn online survey explored attitudes toward antimicrobial use and assessed respondents' management of four clinical scenarios: cellulitis, community-acquired pneumonia, non-catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria, and catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria.SettingThis study was conducted across 16 Veterans' Affairs (VA) medical centers in 2017.ParticipantsPhysicians working in inpatient settings specializing in infectious diseases (ID), hospital medicine, and non-ID/hospitalist internal medicine.MethodsScenario responses were scored by assigning +1 for answers most consistent with guidelines, 0 for less guideline-concordant but acceptable answers and -1 for guideline-discordant answers. Scores were normalized to 100% guideline concordant to 100% guideline discordant across all questions within a scenario, and mean scores were calculated across respondents by specialty. Differences in mean score per scenario were tested using analysis of variance (ANOVA).ResultsOverall, 139 physicians completed the survey (19 ID physicians, 62 hospitalists, and 58 other internists). Attitudes were similar across the 3 groups. We detected a significant difference in cellulitis scenario scores (concordance: ID physicians, 76%; hospitalists, 58%; other internists, 52%; P = .0087). Scores were numerically but not significantly different across groups for community-acquired pneumonia (concordance: ID physicians, 75%; hospitalists, 60%; other internists, 56%; P = .0914), for non-catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (concordance: ID physicians, 65%; hospitalists, 55%; other internists, 40%; P = .322), and for catheter-associated asymptomatic bacteriuria (concordance: ID physicians, 27% concordant; hospitalists, 8% discordant; other internists 13% discordant; P = .12).ConclusionsSignificant differences in performance regarding management of cellulitis and low overall performance regarding asymptomatic bacteriuria point to these conditions as being potentially high-yield targets for stewardship interventions.

BackgroundAcademic hospitalists engage in many non-clinical domains. Success in these domains requires support, mentorship, protected time, and networks. To address these non-clinical competencies, faculty development programs have been implemented. We aim to describe the demographics, job characteristics, satisfiers, and barriers to success of early-career academic hospitalists who attended the Academic Hospitalist Academic (AHA), a professional development conference from 2009 to 2019.MethodsSurvey responses from attendees were evaluated; statistical analyses and linear regression were performed for numerical responses and qualitative coding was performed for textual responses.ResultsA total of 965 hospitalists attended the AHA from 2009 to 2019. Of those, 812 (84%) completed the survey. The mean age of participants was 34 years and the mean time in hospitalist practice was 3.2 years. Most hospitalists were satisfied with their job, and teaching and clinical care were identified as the best parts of the job. The proportion of female hospitalists increased from 42.2% in 2009 to 60% in 2019 (p = 0.001). No other demographics or job characteristics significantly changed over the years. Lack of time and confidence in individual skills were the most common barriers identified in both bedside teaching and providing feedback, and providing constructive feedback was an additional challenge identified in giving feedback.ConclusionsThough early-career hospitalists reported high levels of job satisfaction driven by teaching and clinical care, barriers to success include time constraints and confidence. Awareness of these factors of satisfaction and barriers to success can help shape faculty development curricula for early-career hospitalists.

BackgroundPhysician burnout and wellbeing are an ongoing concern. Limited research has reported on the impact of the COVID 19 pandemic on burnout over time among U.S. physicians.MethodsWe surveyed U.S. frontline physicians at two time points (wave one in May-June 2020 and wave two in Dec 2020-Jan 2021) using a validated burnout measure. The survey was emailed to a national stratified random sample of family physicians, internists, hospitalists, intensivists, emergency medicine physicians, and infectious disease physicians. Burnout was assessed with the Professional Fulfillment Index Burnout Composite scale (PFI-BC). Responses were weighted to account for sample design and non-response bias. Random effects and quantile regression analyses were used to estimate change in conditional mean and median PFI-BC scores, adjusting for physician, geographic, and pandemic covariates.ResultsIn the random effects regression, conditional mean burnout scores increased in the second wave among all respondents (difference 0.15 (CI: 0.24, 0.57)) and among respondents to both waves (balanced panel) (difference 0.21 (CI: - 0.42, 0.84)). Conditional burnout scores increased in wave 2 among all specialties except for Emergency medicine, with the largest increases among Hospitalists, 0.28 points (CI: - 0.19,0.76) among all respondents and 0.36 (CI: - 0.39,1.11) in the balanced panel, and primary care physicians, 0.21 (CI: - 0.23,0.66) among all respondents and 0.31 (CI: - 0.38,1.00) in the balanced panel. The conditional mean PFI-BC score among hospitalists increased from 1.10 (CI: 0.73,1.46) to 1.38 (CI: 1.02,1.74) in wave 2 in all respondents and from 1.49 (CI: 0.69,2.29) to 1.85 (CI: 1.24,2.46) in the balanced panel, near or above the 1.4 threshold indicating burnout. Findings from quantile regression were consistent with those from random effects.ConclusionsRates of physician burnout during the first year of the pandemic increased over time among four of five frontline specialties, with greatest increases among hospitalist and primary care respondents. Our findings, while not statistically significant, were consistent with worsening burnout; both the random effects and quantile regressions produced similar point estimates. Impacts of the ongoing pandemic on physician burnout warrant further research.

Hospital medicine, a specialty encompassing physicians and advanced practice providers in internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine, has been a core and rapidly growing component of civilian health care for the past two decades. More recently, hospitalists have been taking on key roles during surge and contingency planning and operations, most notably during the COVID-19 pandemic which necessitated marked changes in inpatient care across the United States. The military health system has been slower to incorporate hospitalists into clinical care and planning than civilian organizations due to its unique features. However, an increasing focus on future distributed operations in contested environments, pandemic care, and humanitarian assistance/disaster response requires new consideration of their role in military medicine. This stems from hospitalists' value as clinicians who include triage, resource utilization stewardship, medical inpatient care, pre-/post-operative management of surgical patients, and high acuity patient stabilization and management within their scope, often working collaboratively with other specialists such as emergency medicine physicians, surgeons, and intensivists. Just as importantly, hospitalists are system-level facilitators and leaders of patient capacity expansion and/or clinical process changes when needed for response to incidents in a variety of acute care scenarios. With uniformed billets being increasingly targeted to military platform requirements, there is now an opportunity to revisit the value of hospitalists in military medicine. In this Commentary, we review the roles that hospitalists can fill in hospital and operational medical settings, with a focus on surge and contingency operations. To demonstrate this capability, we present here the experience of two operational units employing hospitalists for high acuity patient management and two civilian hospitals implementing surge operations during the 2022–2023 "tripledemic" of viral respiratory infections in the United States. Their innovations facilitated the care of higher acuity and higher volume during times when medical care requirements were limited by traditional staffing models. We end by reviewing opportunities and challenges related to expanding hospitalist use within the military health system and describing efforts that are underway to address the challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Great Migration, the movement of 6,000,000 black Americans from the South to the great urban centers of the eastern seaboard, the industrial Midwest, and West Coast port cities from roughly 1915-1970, was one of the defining demographic events in American history. It dwarfed the 100,000 49ers who swarmed westward in search of gold, the incarceration of 110,000 Japanese to concentration camps in the American interior during World War II, and the 300, 000 Okies who escaped the Dust Bowl to California. In the words of writer Isabel Wilkerson, "[It] swept a good portion of all the black people alive in the United States at the time into a river that carried them to all points north and west." Blacks crammed into urban districts rife with crime and communicable disease, subjecting them to risks of death far higher than their proportion of the population. Without access to adequate inpatient hospital facilities, they received care in public hospitals run by hospital staffs that excluded black physicians from their membership and medical schools that refused admission to black students. The untenable health station of Black America was one of the leading causes of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, activism that succeeded in integrating the hospitals and medical schools by federal acts passed in 1964 and 1965 that transformed American medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Early surgery is recommended for patients with hip fractures. Average time to surgery in Japan is 3.8 days. Such delay could be caused by the burden of preoperative assessment and management of geriatric comorbidities upon orthopedic surgeons. Hospitalist co-management has potential benefits in comprehensive perioperative care that could positively affect time to surgery in patients with hip fractures. We compare clinical outcomes of patients with hip fractures managed by orthopedic surgeon-led care (conventional group) vs. those of patients with hip fractures managed by hospitalist co-management.Methods: In this single-center retrospective cohort study, time to surgery was assessed with interrupted time series analyses. Whole length of hospital stay, length of hospital stay after surgery, complications during hospitalization, 30-day readmission, initiation of osteoporosis treatment and adherence to guidelines for deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis were also evaluated with Chi-square or Fisher's exact tests.Results: The conventional group comprised 332 patients and the co-management group 418 patients. Interrupted time series analyses revealed an immediate reduction of time to surgery by 1.2 days (95%CI, -1.9 to -0.4, P = 0.003) with the start of co-management. Whole length of hospital stay and length of hospital stay after surgery tended to be shorter, but without statistical significance. Intermediate to severe complications and 30-day readmission were not significantly different between the groups. In the co-management group, the rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment (46.4% vs. 6.3%, P < 0.001) and adherence rate to guidelines for deep vein thrombosis prophylaxis (99.3% vs. 88%, P < 0.001) were significantly higher than those in the conventional group.Conclusions: Hospitalist co-management for elderly patients with hip fractures led to significantly shorter time to surgery than conventional orthopedic surgeon-led care, and had advantages in other clinical indicators. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Over one in five Medicare patients discharged to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) are re-hospitalized within 30 days of discharge. Poor communication between the hospital and SNF upon hospital discharge is frequently cited as the most common cause of readmission. Aim: The goal of this program was to assess the ability of a weekly post-discharge hospitalist led virtual rounding program to augment the written discharge summary sent to SNFs. Setting: Two academic hospitals and six SNFs in Baltimore, MD. Participants: Hospitalists and medical directors or directors of nursing from the partner SNF. Program Description: During weekly encounters, the hospitalist and SNF providers discussed the clinical status, discharge medications, treatment plan, and follow-up care of all discharged patients. The intervention took place from July 2021 to December 2021. Program Evaluation: During the study, 544 patients were discussed in a post-discharge virtual encounter. After the discussions, hospitalists identified clinically significant errors in 124 discharge summaries. A survey of participating hospitalists and SNF medical and nursing leadership indicated the intervention was thought to improve care transitions. Discussion: Our innovation was successful in identifying errors in discharge summaries and was thought to improve the transition of care by participating SNF and hospitalist providers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background : Hospitalist physician stress was exacerbated by the pandemic, yet there have been no large scale studies of contributing factors. Objective: Assess remediable components of burnout in hospitalists. Participants, Study Design and Measures: In this Coping with COVID study, we focused on assessment of stress factors among 1022 hospital-based clinicians surveyed between April to December 2020. We assessed variables previously associated with burnout (anxiety/depression due to COVID-19, work overload, fear of exposure or transmission, mission/purpose, childcare stress and feeling valued) on 4 point Likert scales, with results dichotomized with the top two categories meaning "present"; burnout was assessed with the Mini Z single item measure (top 3 choices = burnout). Quantitative analyses utilized multilevel logistic regression; qualitative analysis used inductive and deductive methods. These data informed a conceptual model. Key Results: Of 58,408 HCWs (median response rate 32%), 1022 were hospital-based clinicians (906 (89%) physicians; 449 (44%) female; 469 (46%) White); 46% of these hospital-based clinicians reported burnout. Work overload was associated with almost 5 times the odds of burnout (OR 4.9, 95% CIs 3.67, 6.85, p < 0.001), and those with anxiety or depression had 4 times the odds of burnout (OR 4.2, CIs 3.21, 7.12, p < 0.001), while those feeling valued had half the burnout odds (OR 0.43, CIs 0.31, 0.61, p < 0.001). Regression models estimated 42% of burnout variance was explained by these variables. In open-ended comments, leadership support was helpful, with "great leadership" represented by transparency, regular updates, and opportunities to ask questions. Conclusions: In this national study of hospital medicine, 2 variables were significantly related to burnout (workload and mental health) while two variables (feeling valued and leadership) were likely mitigators. These variables merit further investigation as means of reducing burnout in hospital medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Unplanned hospitalizations among patients with advanced cancer are often sentinel events prompting goals of care discussions and hospice transitions. Late referrals to hospice, especially those at the end of life, are associated with decreased quality of life and higher total health care costs. Inpatient management of patients with solid tumor malignancies is increasingly shifting from oncologists to oncology hospitalists. However, little is known about the impact of oncology hospitalists on the timing of transition to hospice. Objective: To compare hospice discharge rate and time to hospice discharge on an inpatient oncology service led by internal medicine‐trained hospitalists and a service led by oncologists. Methods: At Smilow Cancer Hospital, internal medicine‐trained hospitalists were integrated into one of two inpatient medical oncology services allowing comparison between the new, hospitalist‐led service (HS) and the traditional, oncologist‐led service (TS). Discharges from July 26, 2021, through January 31, 2022, were identified from the electronic medical record. The odds ratio for discharge disposition by team was calculated by logistic regression using a multinomial distribution. Adjusted length of stay before discharge was assessed using multivariable linear regression. Results: The HS discharged 47/400 (11.8%) patients to inpatient hospice, whereas the TS service discharged 18/313 (5.8%), yielding an adjusted odds ratio of 1.94 (95% CI, 1.07–3.51; p =.03). Adjusted average length of stay before inpatient hospice disposition was 6.83 days (95% CI, 4.22–11.06) for the HS and 16.29 days (95% CI, 7.73–34.29) for the TS (p =.003). Conclusions: Oncology hospitalists improve hospice utilization and time to inpatient hospice referral on an inpatient medical oncology service. Plain Language Summary: Patients with advanced cancer are often admitted to the hospital near the end of life. These patients generally have a poor chance of long‐term survival and may prefer comfort‐focused care with hospice.In this study, oncology hospitalists discharged a higher proportion of patients to inpatient hospice with less time spent in the hospital before discharge. Oncology hospitalists improve hospice utilization and time to hospice referral on an inpatient medical oncology service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Studies on frequencies of manipulated medicines in paediatric care are common, but there is little knowledge of experiences of pharmacists and registered nurses in this area. The aim of this study was to explore registered nurses' and pharmacists' reasoning in the manipulation of medicines to paediatric inpatients. Methods: Semistructured interviews with twelve registered nurses and seven pharmacists were performed at a Swedish paediatric university hospital. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analysed using content analysis. Results: Four major categories emerged from the analysis of the interviews: medicines management, knowledge, consulting others and organisation. Medicines management involved the process of drug handling, which is prescribing, reconstitution or manipulation and administration. Knowledge concerned both the knowledge base and how healthcare personnel seek information. Consulting others involved colleagues, registered nurses and pharmacists, between registered nurses, pharmacists and physicians and between registered nurses, pharmacists and caregivers. Organisation covered documentation, time and working environment. Conclusion: Both pharmacists and registered nurses stated that manipulation of medicines to paediatric patients was often necessary but felt unsafe due to lack of supporting guidelines. Pharmacists were natural members of the ward team, contributing with specific knowledge about medicines and formulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Autonomic dysreflexia (AD) is a frequent complication of spinal cord injury (SCI), though current clinical practice patterns for medication management of this condition are unknown. Correspondingly, it is unclear if national differences in practice patterns exist. Objective: To determine trends in current pharmacologic management of AD throughout the Americas. Design: International survey of current physician practice patterns. Setting: Academic medical center. Participants: Sixty physicians managing patients with SCI and prescribing medications to manage AD. Interventions: Not applicable. Main Outcome Measures: Presence of a formal pharmacologic AD management protocol, first‐ and second‐line medications, patient characteristics influencing pharmacologic management. Results: The majority of physicians (69%) had a formal AD management protocol for inpatient care, with nitroglycerin ointment (82%) being the most common first‐line medication. Strong national differences existed regarding the use of nitroglycerin ointment, with 98% of U.S.‐based physicians using this as first‐line medication and 0% of physicians in Canada or Latin America using this due to recent lack of medication availability. Only 67% of physicians had a preferred second‐line medication, with preferences split between hydralazine (48%) and nifedipine (28%). A systolic blood pressure threshold for pharmacologic management was used by 56% of physicians, wheres 26% considered neurological level of injury in decisions to use medications for AD. Heart rate was used by only 5% of physicians in their decision to manage AD with medications. Conclusions: As of 2023, U.S.‐based physicians caring for individuals with SCI largely have formal inpatient protocols in place for medication management of AD, with nearly all relying on nitroglycerin ointment as their first‐line medication. In areas outside of the United States where nitroglycerin ointment is unavailable, pharmacologic practice patterns significantly differ. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women physicians have faced persistent challenges, including gender bias, salary inequities, a disproportionate share of caregiving and domestic responsibilities, and limited representation in leadership. Data indicate the COVID-19 pandemic further highlighted and exacerbated these inequities. Objective: To understand the pandemic's impact on women physicians and to brainstorm solutions to better support women physicians. Design: Mixed-gender semi-structured focus groups. Participants: Hospitalists in the Hospital Medicine Reengineering Network (HOMERuN). Approach: Six semi-structured virtual focus groups were held with 22 individuals from 13 institutions comprised primarily of academic hospitalist physicians. Rapid qualitative methods including templated summaries and matrix analysis were applied to identify major themes and subthemes. Key Results: Four key themes emerged: (1) the pandemic exacerbated perceived gender inequities, (2) women's academic productivity and career development were negatively impacted, (3) women held disproportionate roles as caregivers and household managers, and (4) institutional pandemic responses were often misaligned with workforce needs, especially those of women hospitalists. Multiple interventions were proposed including: creating targeted workforce solutions and benefits to address the disproportionate caregiving burden placed on women, addressing hospitalist scheduling and leave practices, ensuring promotion pathways value clinical and COVID-19 contributions, creating transparency around salary and non-clinical time allocation, and ensuring women are better represented in leadership roles. Conclusions: Hospitalists perceived and experienced that women physicians faced negative impacts from the pandemic in multiple domains including leadership opportunities and scholarship, while also shouldering larger caregiving duties than men. There are many opportunities to improve workplace conditions for women; however, current institutional efforts were perceived as misaligned to actual needs. Thus, policy and programmatic changes, such as those proposed by this cohort of hospitalists, are needed to advance equity in the workplace. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vertebral compression fractures are common in elderly people and most are due to osteoporosis. Osteoporosis treatment is effective for secondary prophylaxis, so initiation is recommended. Despite the clear benefits, the rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment is very low. It is reported to be due to several factors including insufficient systems-based approaches for hospitals and post-acute care. Hospitalists, who are physicians dedicated to the treatment of patients in hospital and whose activity is generalist rather than specialized, are reported to be associated with higher-quality inpatient care because of, among other things, closer adherence to guidelines. Co-management by hospitalists for patients with vertebral compression fractures has potential benefits towards improving the outcomes. We compared the rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment for patients with vertebral compression fractures between conventional orthopedic surgeon-led care (conventional group) and hospitalist co-management care (co-management group). This is a single-center retrospective cohort study to evaluate the rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment and reasons for non-initiation of osteoporosis treatment. Other clinical indicators were also evaluated, including length of hospital stay, preventable complications during hospitalization, and rate of 30-day readmission. We identified 55 patients in the conventional group and 93 patients in the co-management group. The rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment was higher in the co-management group (45.2% vs. 3.6%, OR 21.5; 95%CI 5.12–192.0; P < 0.01). Most of the patients with non-initiation in the co-management group had reasons for it described in the medical records, but in the conventional group the reasons were unknown. There was no significant difference in length of hospital stay, preventable complications during hospitalization, or 30-day readmission between the groups. Hospitalist co-management of patients with vertebral compression fractures showed significantly higher rate of initiation of osteoporosis treatment than conventional orthopedic surgeon-led care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Fluoroquinolones (FQs) are associated with adverse effects and increasing resistance. However, uncomplicated cystitis remains a frequent reason for FQ use. Selective reporting involves withholding susceptibilities for select antimicrobial agents on microbiology reports, in hopes of dissuading use by providers. The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of FQ susceptibility suppression on discharge prescribing for hospitalized patients with uncomplicated cystitis. Methods This retrospective quasi-experimental analysis was conducted among adult patients at a 350-bed academic medical center. Its aim was to compare the incidence of FQ prescribing for cystitis at hospital discharge, one year before and after implementation (1 March 2017–31 March 2019) of a policy to suppress FQ urinary susceptibility results for pansusceptible Klebsiella spp and Escherichia coli. FQ appropriateness and risk factors for FQ use were also examined. Results There was a relative risk reduction of 39% in discharge FQ prescribing when adjusted for discharge team (adjusted risk ratio, 0.61; 95% CI,.40–.93). Almost all FQ use was inappropriate, largely due to organisms' susceptibility to a guideline-preferred agent (n = 61). In multivariate analysis, odds ratios of discharge FQ prescribing were 0.22 (95% CI,.12–.39) for insured patients, 0.43 (95% CI,.21–.86) for patients with antibiotic allergy, and 57.8 (95% CI, 13.7–244) for those receiving inpatient FQ. Discharge from a medicine team was protective against discharge FQ prescribing. Conclusions With multidisciplinary inpatient medicine services and avoidance of inpatient FQ use, suppression of FQ susceptibilities on pansusceptible urine isolates for Klebsiella spp and E coli may represent an attractive strategy for antibiotic stewardship at hospital discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Problem definitionPerformance feedback, in which clinicians are given data on select metrics, is widely used in the context of quality improvement. However, there is a lack of practical guidance describing the process of developing performance feedback systems.Initial approachThis study took place at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) with hospitalist physicians. Participatory design methodology was used to develop a performance dashboard and feedback system. Twenty hospitalist physicians participated in a series of six design sessions and two surveys. Each design session and survey systematically addressed key components of the feedback system, including design, metric selection, data delivery, and incentives. The Capability Opportunity Motivation and Behavior (COM-B) model was then used to identify behavior change interventions to facilitate engagement with the dashboard during a pilot implementation.Key insights, lessons learnedIn regard to performance improvement, physicians preferred collaboration over competition and internal motivation over external incentives. Physicians preferred that the dashboard be used as a tool to aid in clinical practice improvement and not punitively by leadership. Metrics that were clinical or patient-centered were perceived as more meaningful and more likely to motivate behavior change.Next stepsThe performance dashboard has been introduced to the entire hospitalist group, and evaluation of implementation continues by monitoring engagement and physician attitudes. This will be followed by targeted feedback interventions to attempt to improve performance.

The article presents a study which reported the topics the clinicians identified in needs assessment, results from pre-post knowledge assessment, and course evaluations for hospitalists newly practicing long-term care settings. Topics include the importance of post-acute and long-term care (PALTC) settings to the healthcare continuum, knowledge assessment scores, and lessons from this implementation.

Background/Aims Although a management fee for hospitalist service was established in Korea, the number of hospitalists required for the system to run remains outmatched. Methods In January 2020 and February 2022, before and after the establishment of the hospitalist fee system respectively, cross-sectional online surveys were conducted among internal medicine board-certified hospitalists. Results There were 59 and 64 respondents in the 2020 and 2022 surveys, respectively. The percentage of respondents who cited financial benefits as a motive for becoming a hospitalist was higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (34.4% vs. 10.2%; p = 0.001). The annual salary of respondents was also higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (mean, 182.9 vs. 163.0 million in South Korean Won; p = 0.006). A total of 81.3% of the respondents were willing to continue a hospitalist career in the 2022 survey. In multivariate regression analysis, the possibility of being appointed as a professor was found to be an independent predictive factor of continuing a hospitalist career (odds ratio, 4.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.09–14.75; p = 0.037). Conclusions Since the establishment of the hospitalist fee system, monetary compensation has improved for hospitalists. The possibility of being appointed as a professor could predict long-term work as hospitalists.

Introduction: Burnout and low job satisfaction are increasing among the General Internal Medicine (GIM) workforce. Whether part-time compared to full-time clinical employment is associated with better wellbeing, job satisfaction and health among hospitalists remains unclear. Materials and methods: We conducted an anonymized cross-sectional survey among board-certified general internists (i.e. hospitalists) from GIM departments in 14 Swiss hospitals. Part-time clinical work was defined as employment of <100% as a clinician. The primary outcome was well-being, as measured by the extended Physician Well-Being Index (ePWBI), an ePWBI ≥3 indicating poor wellbeing. Secondary outcomes included depressive symptoms, mental and physical health, and job satisfaction. We compared outcomes in part-time and full time workers using propensity score-adjusted multivariate regression models. Results: Of 199 hospitalists invited, 137 (69%) responded to the survey, and 124 were eligible for analysis (57 full-time and 67 part-time clinicians). Full-time clinicians were more likely to have poor wellbeing compared to part-time clinicians (ePWBI ≥3 54% vs. 31%, p = 0.012). Part-time compared to full-time clinical work was associated with a lower risk of poor well-being in adjusted analyses (odds ratio 0.20, 95% confidence interval 0.07–0.59, p = 0.004). Compared to full-time clinicians, there were fewer depressive symptoms (3% vs. 18%, p = 0.006), and mental health was better (mean SF-8 Mental Component Summary score 47.2 vs. 43.2, p = 0.028) in part-time clinicians, without significant differences in physical health and job satisfaction. Conclusions: Full-time clinical hospitalists in GIM have a high risk of poor well-being. Part-time compared to full-time clinical work is associated with better well-being and mental health, and fewer depressive symptoms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic brought about many changes in work environment and interpersonal interactions to prevent the spread of infection. Policies such as ubiquitous masking, virtual meetings, physician distancing, and decreased communal eating changed the inpatient work environment. This study aims to look at the impact of these changes on hospitalists' psychological safety. Methods: We surveyed hospitalists on how these changes affected their well-being and feelings of psychological safety. Results: Masking, virtualmeetings, and fewer opportunities to eat together decreased connection with colleagues. Virtual meetings and social distancing decreased some aspects of psychological safety. Conclusions: This study highlights the importance of finding ways to foster connection and decrease burnout while continuing to prevent the spread of infection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Acknowledging that a successful career in hospital medicine (HM) requires specialized skills, residency programs have developed hospitalmedicine-focused education (HMFE) programs. Surveys of Internal Medicine residency leaders have describedHMFE curricula but are limited to that specialty and lack perspectives from early career hospitalists (ECHs) who recently completed this training. As such, we surveyed multispecialty ECHs to evaluate their preferences for HMFE and to identify gaps in standard residency training and career development that HMFE can bridge. The objectives of our study were to describe multispecialty ECH needs and preferences for HMFE and to identify gaps in standard residency training and career development that HMFE can bridge. Methods: FromFebruary toMarch 2021, ECHs (defined as hospitalists within 0-5 years from residency) were surveyed using the Society of Hospital Medicine's listserv. Respondents identified as having participated inHMFE or not during residency (defining themas HMFE participants or non-HMFE participants). Results: From 257 respondents, 84 (33%) ECHs met inclusion criteria. Half (n = 42) were HMFE participants. ECHs ranked clinical hospitalist career preparation (86%) andmentorship from HMfaculty (85%) as the most important gaps in standard residency training and career development thatHMFE can bridge. Other key components of HMFE included exposure to quality improvement, patient safety, and high-value care (67%); provision of autonomy through independent rounding (54%); and preparation for the job application process (70%). Conclusions: Multispecialty ECHs describe HMFE as positively influencing their decision to pursue a hospitalist career and increasing their preparedness for practice. HMFE may be particularly well suited to foster advanced clinical skills such as independent rounding, critical thinking, and self-reflection. We propose an organizing framework for HMFE in residency that may assist in the implementation and innovation of HMFE programs nationwide and in the development of standardized HMFE competencies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Morale and burnout were concerns for hospitalists prior to the COVID-19 pandemic; these concerns were amplified as COVID-19 spread and hospitals experienced unprecedented stress. In contrast to prior literature, our study assesses both satisfaction and the importance of various factors. This study examines morale of hospitalists early in the COVID-19 pandemic in two settings: conventional hospitals and a COVID-19 Alternate Care site (ACS) in the same geographic region in Maryland. Multiple studies published early in the pandemic show low morale in COVID-19 hospitals. Methods: In a cross-sectional survey study, we analyze data from the Hospitalist Morale Index (HMI) administered between September 2020 and March 2021 to determine the pandemic's impact on hospitalist morale. Results: Surprisingly, our study found morale in the ACS was better than morale at the conventional hospitals. ACS hospitalists and conventional hospitalists were demographically similar. Our results show that a significantly higher proportion of conventional hospitalists reported burnout compared to the ACS hospitalists. General quality of life was rated significantly higher in the ACS group than the conventional group. Significantly more ACS hospitalists were invested in making their group outstanding. Five main HMI domains were examined with questions on a 5-point rating scale: Clinical Factors, Workload, Material Rewards, Leadership, and Appreciation/Acknowledgement. ACS hospitalists rated most measures higher than conventional hospitalists; largest differences were observed in Clinical Factors and Appreciation/Acknowledgement domains. Narrative comments from ACS hospitalists revealed strong identification with the mission of the ACS and pride in contributing during a crisis. One key difference between the two groups explains these findings: provider autonomy. The ACS staff chose the position and the assignment, while conventional hospitalists caring for COVID-19 patients could not readily opt out of this work. Conclusion: Our data suggest that autonomy in assignments with risk has implications for morale and burnout. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: To provide analysis and commentary on Australian state/territory child and adolescent mental health service (CAMHS) expenditure, inpatient and ambulatory structure and key performance indicators. Method: Data from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare and the Australian Bureau of Statistics were descriptively analysed. Results: Between 2015–16 and 2019–20, overall CAMHS expenditure increased by an average annual rate of 3.6%. Per capita expenditure increased at a higher rate than for other subspeciality services. CAMHS admissions had a higher cost per patient day, shorter length of stay, higher readmission rate and lower rates of significant improvement. Adolescents aged 12–17 had high community CAMHS utilisation, based on proportion of population coverage and number of service contacts. CAMHS outpatient outcomes were similar to other age-groups. There were high rates of 'Mental disorder not otherwise specified', depression and adjustment/stress-related disorders as principal diagnoses in community CAMHS episodes. Conclusions: CAMHS inpatient admissions had lower rates of significant improvement and higher 14-day readmission rates than other ages. Australia's young population had a high outpatient CAMHS contact rate. Evidence-based modelling of CAMHS providers and outcomes may inform future service improvement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Hospitalists in Japan have been at the forefront of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, contributions of Japanese hospitalists during the COVID-19 pandemic and hospitalists' awareness of crisis management education remain unclear.Material and Methods: We conducted a questionnaire survey to investigate the role of Japanese hospitalists during the COVID-19 pandemic. The questionnaire was conducted using email and Google Forms targeting the chairpersons of facilities certified by the Japanese Society of Hospital General Medicine (JSHGM). Members of the academic committee of the JSHGM and several hospitals conducted a narrative review and determined the questions for the survey in a discussion.Results: We conducted descriptive statistics based on the responses of 97 hospitals that agreed to participate in this survey. In total, 91.8% of general medicine departments in the included hospitals were involved in the medical care of COVID-19 patients. Furthermore, in 73.2% of hospitals, hospitalists were involved in infection control for COVID-19 inside or outside the hospital. Our survey revealed that Japanese hospitalists were responsible for COVID-19 treatment in over 60% of hospitals and contributed to hospital management, infection control, and vaccination. In total, 79.4% of hospitals answered that "training of personnel who can provide practical care for emerging infectious diseases is necessary", 78.4% indicated that "the establishment of an infection control system in advance to prepare emerging infectious diseases in the hospital is necessary", and 74.2% stated that "the establishment of an educational system for responding to emerging infectious diseases is necessary.".Conclusion: In conclusion, during the pandemic, in addition to inpatient care, Japanese hospitalists provided outpatient care for COVID-19, which is the role of primary care physicians in other countries. Furthermore, Japanese hospitalists who experienced the COVID-19 pandemic expressed the need for personnel development and education to prepare for future emerging infectious disease pandemics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

(1) Background: Hospitalists are healthcare providers who focus on hospitalized patients, but research on the roles of pediatric hospitalists is lacking. This study investigates the role of a supervisor-type hospitalist in a pediatric hematology/oncology ward at a tertiary children's hospital, assessing the impact on satisfaction levels among patient caregivers, resident physicians, and nurses. (2) Methods: A retrospective analysis and online surveys were conducted to assess satisfaction levels before and after the introduction of hospitalists in the Department of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Seoul National University Children's Hospital in the Republic of Korea. (3) Results: The introduction of hospitalists led to a 19.3% reduction in prescription error interventions over six months. Unexpected transfers to the intensive care unit decreased from 1.4% to 0.7% (p = 0.229). Patient caregivers reported elevated satisfaction levels with physicians (rated 8.47/10), and there was a significant enhancement in overall satisfaction among nurses (increasing from 3.23 to 4.23/5, p < 0.001). The majority of resident physicians (83.3%) expressed contentment with the hospitalist system, with 77% indicating an interest in transitioning to a hospitalist role. However, these resident physicians also expressed concerns regarding job stability. (4) Conclusions: Supervisor-type pediatric hospitalists have the potential to elevate satisfaction levels not only among patient caregivers but also among nurses and resident physicians, showing promise in improving medical care quality. Nonetheless, ensuring favorable perception and securing job stability within the hospitalist system are pivotal for achieving successful implementation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Patient Satisfaction, which is viewed as a significant indicator of quality of care, can be defined as fulfillment or meeting of expectation of a person from a service or product and has been receiving greater attention as a result of rise in pay for performance. It is an important and commonly used indicator to measure the quality of care that can contribute evaluation of structure, process and outcome of services. Patient satisfaction is a subjective phenomenon. It is also a multidimensional aspect as, many factors contribute directly or indirectly to patient satisfaction including accessibility and convenience of services, institutional structure, interpersonal relationships, the competence of health professionals and patient expectations and preferences. Patient satisfaction is an important and commonly used indicator to measure the quality of care that can contribute to a balanced evaluation of structure, process and outcome of services. So patient satisfaction has become a high priority to hospitals and health plans across the country, because of its impact on patient loyalty, the hospital's reputation, perception of quality of care, employees' dissatisfaction and retention of a hospital's bottom line. Materials And Methods: It is a hospital based prospective study; the research was carried among 120 randomly selected patients who were admitted in the department of General Medicine, GGH, Srikakulam, a tertiary care teaching hospital. The study is conducted through the collection of primary and secondary data. Results: A total of 120 patients were included in the study of which 68 (56%) were males, 52 (44%) were females.56% in 15-45 years age group, 26% in 45-60 years, 18% in more than 60 years, and the level of patient satisfaction of various factors like time taken for admission is good as 45%, excellent staff friendliness 17%' excellent timely discharge process as 20%, excellent doctor care as 46%, excellent dietary services 26% etc. Conclusion: Feedback of patients is one of the key parameters in assessing the quality of hospitals. The feedback results showed that most of the patients were satisfied with most of the services in Hospital under study and the doctor's care and nursing services have the highest satisfaction level, which is very satisfactory and encouraging but there is always a scope for improvement. More than 85% of the patients rated most of the parameters as good or excellent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: Retrospective study. Objective: To determine whether opioid use disorder (OUD) patients undergoing 1- to 2-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (1-2ACDF) have higher rates of: 1) in-hospital lengths of stay (LOS); 2) readmissions; 3) complications; and 4) costs. Methods: OUD patients undergoing primary 1-2ACDF were identified within the Medicare database and matched to a control cohort in a 1:5 ratio by age, sex, and medical comorbidities. The query yielded 80,683 patients who underwent 1-2 ACDF with (n = 13,448) and without (n = 67,235) OUD. Outcomes analyzed included in-hospital LOS, 90-day readmission rates, 90-day medical complications, and costs. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were used to calculate odds-ratios (OR) for medical complications and readmissions. Welch's t -test was used to test for significance for LOS and cost between the cohorts. An alpha value less than 0.002 was considered statistically significant. Results: OUD patients were found to have significantly longer in-hospital LOS compared to their counterparts (3.41 vs. 2.23-days, P <.0001), in addition to higher frequency and odds of requiring readmissions (21.62 vs. 11.57%; OR: 1.38, P <.0001). Study group patients were found to have higher frequency and odds of developing medical complications (0.88 vs. 0.19%, OR: 2.80, P <.0001) and incurred higher episode of care costs ($20,399.62 vs. $16,812.14, P <.0001). Conclusion: The study can help to push orthopaedic surgeons in better managing OUD patients pre-operatively in terms of safe discontinuation and education of opioid drugs and their effects on complications, leading to more satisfactory outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

An editorial is presented on the historical and contemporary roles of pediatric hospitalists. Topics include the evolution of clinical responsibilities for pediatric hospitalists, the integration of inpatient and outpatient care practices, and the ongoing challenges and advancements in hospitalist roles and billing practices.

Hospitalists provide a significant amount of direct clinical care in both academic and community hospitals. Peer feedback is a potentially underutilized and low resource method for improving clinical performance, which lends itself well to the frequent patient care handoffs that occur in the practice of hospital medicine. We review current literature on peer feedback to provide an overview of this performance improvement tool, briefly describe its incorporation into multi-source clinical performance appraisals across disciplines, highlight how peer feedback is currently used in hospital medicine, and present practical steps for hospital medicine programs to implement peer feedback to foster clinical excellence among their clinicians.

Use of inpatient teledermatology increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. We surveyed the Society for Dermatology Hospitalists to better characterize the impact of COVID-19 on teledermatology use by inpatient dermatology providers, particularly on provider perceptions of teledermatology. Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, 40% (8/20) of surveyed providers had used telehealth at their institution to help perform inpatient consults, while 90% (18/20) adapted use of teledermatology during the pandemic. 80% (16/20) reported that their opinion of teledermatology changed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, with the vast majority (87.5%, 14/16) reporting having a more positive opinion. Benefits of teledermatology included efficiency, ability to increase access safely, and ability for clinicians to focus on complex cases. Some providers expressed concerns over the potential implications regarding the perception of dermatology within medicine, limitations of inadequate photos, and breakdowns in communication with consulting teams and patients. Robust algorithms and or utilization criteria of teledermatology may help to mitigate risk, while increasing access to inpatient dermatologic evaluation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article offers information on the historical evolution of hospitals, emphasizing the shift from sanctuaries for the frail to hubs of innovative therapeutic techniques. Topics include the emergence of the hospitalist role about 25 years ago, aimed at providing comprehensive care and coordinating treatment for patients with diverse medical conditions.

PhenomenonMoral distress, which occurs when someone's moral integrity is seriously compromised because they feel unable to act in accordance with their core values and obligations, is an increasingly important concern for physicians. Due in part to limited understanding of the root causes of moral distress, little is known about which approaches are most beneficial for mitigating physicians' distress. Our objective was to describe system-level factors in United States (U.S.) healthcare that contribute to moral distress among pediatric hospitalist attendings and pediatric residents. ApproachIn this qualitative study, we conducted one-on-one semi-structured interviews with pediatric hospitalist attendings and pediatric residents from 4 university-affiliated, freestanding children's hospitals in the U.S. between August 2019 and February 2020. Data were coded with an iteratively developed codebook, categorized into themes, and then synthesized. FindingsWe interviewed 22 hospitalists and 18 residents. Participants described in detail how the culture of medicine created a context that cultivated moral distress. Norms of medical education and the practice of medicine created conflicts between residents' strong sense of professional responsibility to serve the best interests of their patients and the expectations of a hierarchical system of decision-making. The corporatization of the U.S. healthcare system created administrative and financial pressures that conflicted with the moral responsibility felt by both residents and hospitalists to provide the care that their patients and families needed. InsightsThese findings highlight the critical role of systemic sources of moral distress. These findings suggest that system-level interventions must supplement existing interventions that target individual health care providers. Preventing and managing moral distress will require a broad approach that addresses systemic drivers, such as the corporatization of medicine, which are entrenched in the culture of medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Earlier and more frequent serious illness conversations with patients allow clinical teams to better align care with patients' goals and values. Nonphysician clinicians often have unique perspectives and understanding of patients' wishes and are thus well-positioned to support conversations with seriously ill patients. The Team-based Serious Illness Care Program (SICP) at Stanford aimed to involve all care team members to support and conduct serious illness conversations with patients and their caregivers and families. We conducted interviews with clinicians to understand how care teams implement team-based approaches to conduct serious illness conversations and navigate resulting team complexity. We used a rapid qualitative approach to analyze semistructured interviews of clinicians and administrative stakeholders in two team-based SICP implementation groups (i.e., inpatient oncology and hospital medicine) (n = 25). Analysis was informed by frameworks/theory: cross-disciplinary role agreement, team formation and functioning, and organizational theory. Implementing team-based SICP was feasible. Theme 1 centered on how teams formed and managed to come to an agreement: teams with rapidly changing staffing/responsibilities prioritized communication, whereas teams with consistent staffing/responsibilities primarily relied on protocols. Theme 2 demonstrated that leaders and managers at multiple levels could support implementation. Theme 3 explored strengths and opportunities. Positively, team-based SICP distributed work burden, timed conversations in alignment with patient needs, and added unique value from nonphysician team members. Role ambiguity and conflict were attributed to miscommunication and ethical conflicts. Team-based serious illness communication is viable and valuable, with a range of successful workflow and leadership approaches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: People with opioid use disorder (OUD) have high rates of hospital admissions and high rates of patient-directed discharge, leading to significant morbidity and mortality. In this study, we aimed to understand hospitalist attitudes toward patients with OUD leaving before treatment completion and their willingness to collaborate with patients in future initiatives focused on improving the experience of hospital-based care for patients with OUD. Methods: We conducted semi-structured interviews with hospitalists at two hospitals in Philadelphia, PA to explore their perspectives on social and structural factors that contribute to patients with OUD leaving the hospital before treatment completion. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and coded with NVivo using conventional content analysis. Results: Twenty-two hospitalists (64% female, 72.7% White, mean age 37) were interviewed between February and April 2021. Hospitalists listed the following as reasons for patients with OUD leaving before treatment completion: untimely and inadequate pain/withdrawal treatment, limited prescribing options in medications for OUD, restrictive visitor and smoking policies, and patient social and other obligations. Twenty out of 22 hospitalists were willing to engage in collaborative patient-centered care but noted institutional barriers. Conclusion: Hospitalists stated willingness to collaborate with patients on identifying and developing systems-level solutions that would allow for patient-centered care. In-hospital access to addiction consult service, staff with lived experience, and other culturally competent resources are key to reducing self-directed discharge, as is training to address stigma and reframe perceptions of appropriate dosing for pain and withdrawal. Hospitalists note a need for transitions to outpatient care after hospital discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hemolytic disease of the newborn is commonly diagnosed and managed by pediatric and newborn hospitalists. Severe cases, however, pose unique challenges for community hospitals without higher level neonatal intensive care units. This case highlights the challenges faced by pediatric hospitalists in the community and suggests a focused approach to management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The United States has 2 types of institutions that educate physicians: allopathic medical schools, which award MD degrees, and osteopathic medical schools, which award DO degrees. This study examined whether the quality and costs of care are similar for allopathic and osteopathic hospitalists who care for elderly patients. Visual Abstract. Comparison of Hospital Outcomes for Patients Treated by Allopathic Versus Osteopathic Hospitalists: The United States has 2 types of degree programs that educate physicians. Allopathic medical schools award MD degrees, and osteopathic medical schools award DO degrees. Although there are many reasons to believe that the 2 types of physicians provide equal care, there is too little information about this issue. This article describes a study that examined whether the quality and costs of care are similar for allopathic and osteopathic hospitalists who take care of elderly patients. Background: The United States has 2 types of degree programs that educate physicians: allopathic and osteopathic medical schools. Objective: To determine whether quality and costs of care differ between hospitalized Medicare patients treated by allopathic or osteopathic physicians. Design: Retrospective observational study. Setting: Medicare claims data. Patients: 20% random sample of Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries hospitalized with a medical condition during 2016 to 2019 and treated by hospitalists. Measurements: The primary outcome was 30-day patient mortality. The secondary outcomes were 30-day readmission, length of stay (LOS), and health care spending (Part B spending). Multivariable regression models adjusted for patient and physician characteristics and their hospital-level averages (to effectively estimate differences within hospitals) were estimated. Results: Of 329 510 Medicare admissions, 253 670 (77.0%) and 75 840 (23.0%) received care from allopathic and osteopathic physicians, respectively. The results can rule out important differences in quality and costs of care between allopathic versus osteopathic physicians for patient mortality (adjusted mortality, 9.4% for allopathic physicians vs. 9.5% [reference] for osteopathic hospitalists; average marginal effect [AME], −0.1 percentage point [95% CI, −0.4 to 0.1 percentage point]; P  = 0.36), readmission (15.7% vs. 15.6%; AME, 0.1 percentage point [CI, −0.4 to 0.3 percentage point; P  = 0.72), LOS (4.5 vs. 4.5 days; adjusted difference, −0.001 day [CI, −0.04 to 0.04 day]; P  = 0.96), and health care spending ($1004 vs. $1003; adjusted difference, $1 [CI, −$8 to $10]; P  = 0.85). Limitation: Data were limited to elderly Medicare patients hospitalized with medical conditions. Conclusion: The quality and costs of care were similar between allopathic and osteopathic hospitalists when they cared for elderly patients and worked as the principal physician in a team of health care professionals that often included other allopathic and osteopathic physicians. Primary Funding Source: National Institutes of Health/National Institute on Aging. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High hospital readmission rates indicate inadequate facility performance, contributing to elevated healthcare costs resulting in an industry-wide effort to decrease the frequency. The objective of this paper is to perform a literature review to evaluate successful discharge practices and identify unutilized strategies which could be implemented within the organization to reduce the readmission rate. Findings suggest the variables most relevant to being discharged from an inpatient unit and maintaining psychiatric stability were associated with three areas. First, access to services that could assist with behavioral health and general life challenges, the need for social connection, and lastly, timely access to behavioral health services. The findings clearly show that the readmission rate is not only impacted by the facility's efforts but is tightly connected to the resources available to the patient upon discharge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]