Journal of general internal medicine
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Multicenter Study
Association of communication between hospital-based physicians and primary care providers with patient outcomes.
Patients admitted to general medicine inpatient services are increasingly cared for by hospital-based physicians rather than their primary care providers (PCPs). This separation of hospital and ambulatory care may result in important care discontinuities after discharge. We sought to determine whether communication between hospital-based physicians and PCPs influences patient outcomes. ⋯ Analysis of communication between PCPs and inpatient medical teams revealed much room for improvement. Although communication during handoffs of care is important, we were not able to find a relationship between several aspects of communication and associated adverse clinical outcomes in this multi-center patient sample.
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Multicenter Study
Physician job satisfaction and quality of care among hospital employed physicians in Japan.
Physician job satisfaction is reportedly associated with interpersonal quality of care, such as patient satisfaction, but its association with technical quality of care, as determined by whether patients are offered recommended services, is unknown. ⋯ Contrary to the positive association reported between physician job satisfaction and high quality of interpersonal care, no association was seen between physician job satisfaction and the technical quality of care.
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The impact of open access (OA) scheduling on chronic disease care and outcomes has not been studied. ⋯ OA scheduling was associated with worse processes of care and SBP at 1 year. OA clinic scheduling should be examined more critically in larger systems of care, multiple health-care settings, and/or in a randomized controlled trial.
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Publishing a case report demonstrates scholarly productivity for trainees and clinician-educators. ⋯ The workshop increased participants' perception that they could present or publish a case report.
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Comparative Study
Use of a geriatric home visit experience to teach medical students the functional status assessment.
Functional status measures strongly predict hospital outcomes and mortality, yet teaching of these measures is often missing from medical schools' curricula. To address this deficiency, we developed a Geriatric Home-based Assessment (GHA) module for third-year medical students. The module was composed of a workshop and two to three home visits. ⋯ Our GHA module was effective in improving students' knowledge and proficiency in the functional status assessment. "Hands on" experiences like the GHA allow students to develop a solid foundation for assessing functional status and mobility.