Closing the Gap in Direct Admissions: A Quality Improvement Project.

Background And Objectives: Direct admissions (DAs) are nonemergent admissions to the inpatient unit that bypass the emergency department. Our institution lacked a standardized DA process, which resulted in postponement of prompt patient care. The purpose of the present study was to review and modify the existing DA process and to decrease the time between patient arrival for DA and placement of initial clinician orders.

Diagnosis Related Groups of Patients Admitted from an Urban Academic Medical Center to a Virtual Hybrid Hospital-at-Home Program.

Background: The diagnosis related group (DRG) is used as an economic patient classification system based on clinical characteristics, hospital stay, and treatment costs. Mayo Clinic's virtual hybrid hospital-at-home program, advanced care at home (ACH), offers high-acuity home inpatient care for a variety of diagnosis. This study aimed to determine the DRGs admitted to the ACH program at an urban academic center.

A retrospective analysis of normal saline and lactated ringers as resuscitation fluid in sepsis.

Background: The Surviving Sepsis Campaign suggested preferential resuscitation with balanced crystalloids, such as Lactated Ringer's (LR), although the level of recommendation was weak, and the quality of evidence was low. Past studies reported an association of unbalanced solutions, such as normal saline (NS), with increased AKI risks, metabolic acidosis, and prolonged ICU stay, although some of the findings are conflicting. We have compared the outcomes with the preferential use of normal saline vs.

A Quality Improvement Approach to Decrease the Utilization of Docusate in Hospitalized Patients.

Background And Objectives: Docusate sodium is a commonly prescribed medication to relieve constipation, but several studies have demonstrated its ineffectiveness. Its continued use in the hospital setting adds unnecessary cost and risk to patients. At the Mayo Clinic Florida campus, docusate was ordered for 9.

Impact of an Acquisition Advanced Practice Provider on Home Hospital Patient Volumes and Length of Stay.

In July 2020, Mayo Clinic introduced a hospital-at-home program, known as Advanced Care at Home (ACH) as an alternate option for clinically stable medical patients requiring hospital-level care. This retrospective cohort study evaluates the impact of the addition of a dedicated ACH patient acquisition Advanced Practice Provider (APP) on average length of stay (ALOS) and the number of patients admitted into the program between in Florida and Wisconsin between 6 July 2020 and 31 January 2022. Patient volumes and ALOS of 755 patients were analyzed between the two sites both before and after a dedicated acquisition APP was added to the Florida site on 1 June 2021.

Escalating the dose and downgrading the rhythm: the combination of prescribed and non-prescribed medications resulting in an abnormal heart rhythm.

Older patients often have multiple medical issues which predisposes them to complications of polypharmacy and medication interactions. We present a case of an 89-year-old female who presented to the emergency department after a fall. An electrocardiogram (ECG) showed a junctional bradycardia with a ventricular rate of 50 beats per minute (BPM).

Intravenous Access in Gastrointestinal Hemorrhage: A Multidisciplinary Quality Improvement Initiative Led by Emergency Department Nurses and Internal Medicine Physicians.

Background: The management of acute gastrointestinal hemorrhage (GIH) is focused on early resuscitation through 2 large-bore intravenous (2LBIV) catheters, although adherence to this recommendation is low.

Local Problem: Of 100 patients hospitalized with GIH in 2017, only 14 received 2LBIV access. The goal of this study was to improve this measure.

A Longitudinal Curriculum In Point-Of-Care Ultrasonography Improves Medical Knowledge And Psychomotor Skills Among Internal Medicine Residents.

Purpose: Despite its growing popularity and clinical utility among hospital-based physicians, there are no formal competency requirements nor training standards for United States based Internal Medicine Residencies for learning point-of-care ultrasonography (POCUS). The purpose of this investigation was to study the impact and effectiveness of a novel POCUS curriculum for an Internal Medicine (IM) residency program.

Patients And Methods: This was a Single-Group Educational Quasi-Experiment involving Categorical and Preliminary Internal Medicine Residents in Post-Graduate Years 1 through 3 at a single United States academic tertiary center.

A Rapid Cycle Improvement Approach to Increase Patient Readiness at Their Scheduled Appointment Time.

Background: Patient unpunctuality negatively affects quality care. We found that 39% of patients at an academic primary care center were not ready to be evaluated at their scheduled appointment time. Our aim was to reduce this to 20% in 3 months' time.

Reducing unnecessary testing: an intervention to improve resident ordering practices.

Purpose Of The Study: To reduce the number of unnecessary laboratory tests ordered through a measurement of effects of education and cost awareness on laboratory ordering behaviour by internal medicine residents for common tests, including complete blood cell count (CBC) and renal profile (RP), and to evaluate effects of cost awareness on hospitalisation, 30-day readmission rate and mortality rate.

Study Design: 567 patients admitted during February, March and April 2014 were reviewed as the control group. Total CBC, CBC with differential and RP tests were counted, along with readmission and mortality rates.

A non-travel related rash in a traveler.

A 45-year-old man was admitted for investigation of a symmetric lower limb rash associated with recurrent fever for two weeks following a hiking trip in Italy and Greece. He was treated for sepsis secondary to lower limb cellulitis with no clinical improvement and subsequently diagnosed with endocarditis mediating an infectious vasculitis.