Papers by Andrew Auerbach
Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2014
Inadequate patient engagement in hospital care inhibits high-quality care and successful transiti... more Inadequate patient engagement in hospital care inhibits high-quality care and successful transitions to home. Tablet computers may provide opportunities to engage patients, particularly during inactive times between provider visits, tests, and treatments, by providing interactive health education modules as well as access to their personal health record (PHR). We conducted a pilot project to explore inpatient satisfaction with bedside tablets and barriers to usability. Additionally, we evaluated use of these devices to deliver 2 specific Web-based programs: (1) an interactive video to improve inpatient education about hospital safety, and (2) PHR access to promote inpatient engagement in discharge planning. We enrolled 30 patients; 17 (60%) were aged 40 years or older, 17 (60%) were women, 17 (60%) owned smartphones, and 6 (22%) owned tablet computers. Twenty-seven (90%) reported high overall satisfaction with the device, and 26 (87%) required ≤ 30 minutes for basic orientation (70% required ≤ 15 minutes). Twenty-five (83%) independently completed an interactive educational module on hospital patient safety. Twenty-one (70%) accessed their personal health record (PHR) to view their medication list, verify scheduled appointments, or send a message to their primary care physician. Next steps include education on high-risk medications, assessment of discharge barriers, and training clinical staff (such as respiratory therapists, registered nurses, or nurse practitioners) to deliver tablet interventions.
Journal of Hospital Medicine an Official Publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine, 2010
Journal of General Internal Medicine, Dec 1, 2005
PURPOSE: Although the inpatient setting has served as the predominant educational site of interna... more PURPOSE: Although the inpatient setting has served as the predominant educational site of internal medicine training programs, many changes and factors are currently affecting education in this setting. As a result, many educational organizations are calling for reforms in inpatient training. This report reviews the available literature on specific internal medicine inpatient educational interventions and proposes recommendations for improving internal medicine training in this setting.
Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2015
Discharging patients before noon is a key approach to improving bed utilization. Few data exist t... more Discharging patients before noon is a key approach to improving bed utilization. Few data exist to describe whether patients are discharged earlier or their stay is extended to allow for an early discharge the next day. To determine if a discharge before noon (DCBN) is associated with length of stay (LOS). Retrospective analysis of data from adult medical and surgical discharges from a single academic center from July 2012 through April 2015. We used a multivariable generalized linear model to evaluate the association between DCBN and LOS. Of 38,365 hospitalizations, 6484 (16.9%) were discharged before noon, and the median LOS was 3.7 days. After adjustment, DCBN was associated with a longer LOS (adjusted odds ratio [OR]: 1.043, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.003-1.086). The association between longer LOS and DCBN was more pronounced in patients admitted emergently (n = 14,192, 37%) (adjusted OR: 1.14, 95% CI: 1.033-1.249). Although we cannot discern whether discharges were delayed to achieve discharge before noon, earlier discharge was associated with a longer LOS, particularly among emergent admissions. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2015. © 2015 Society of Hospital Medicine.
Chest, Dec 29, 2011
A cute lung injury (ALI) is a common and frequently fatal cause of acute respiratory failure, aff... more A cute lung injury (ALI) is a common and frequently fatal cause of acute respiratory failure, affecting up to 20% of patients who are mechanically ventilated and carrying mortality rates from 30% to 40%. 1-3 The burden of ALI morbidity and mortality affects African Americans disproportionately: Compared with Americans of European descent, African Americans suffer at least 50% increased risk of death. 4,5 Although it is not known to what extent genetic sus-ceptibility contributes to differences in ALI mortality, African descent has been associated with a "highexpression profi le" of proinfl ammatory chemokines
Objectie: To examine the effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the pulmonary status of cystic fi... more Objectie: To examine the effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the pulmonary status of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients through the objective parameters of steroid use, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and inpatient hospital days (IHDs). Methods: Retrospective chart review of all patients with CF who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery from 1993 to 1999 at a tertiary care children's hospital. Preoperative pulmonary
BMJ quality & safety, Jan 11, 2015
Printed handoff documents are nearly universally present in the pockets of providers taking inhou... more Printed handoff documents are nearly universally present in the pockets of providers taking inhouse call. They are frequently used to answer clinical questions. However, the static nature of printed documents makes it likely that information will quickly become inaccurate as a result of ongoing management. This increases the potential for medical errors, especially in clinical services which rely heavily on printed documents for ongoing patient management. To measure the average time to potential inaccuracy, represented as the 'half-life' of printed handoff documents. Cross-sectional analysis of 100 adult inpatients during a single 24 h period at an academic medical centre in 2014. The half-life was defined as the time at which half of the patients would be expected to have inaccurate information on a printed handoff document, based on review of orders which populate data fields on these printed handoff documents. In our sample, the half-life was 6 h on the 12 h night shift ...
Journal of hospital medicine, Jan 12, 2015
Duty-hour restrictions have forced changes in care models for inpatient services, including an in... more Duty-hour restrictions have forced changes in care models for inpatient services, including an increase in shift work. In this study we aimed to determine whether a shift model compliant with 2011 Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty-hour standards was associated with more active patient care management. Residents caring for pediatric patients changed from a schedule with extended duty shifts and cross-coverage to one based on day/night shifts, limiting interns to 16 consecutive duty hours. We conducted a retrospective review of orders written under each model. After the intervention, there was a significant increase in the mean number of orders written within the first 12 hours (pre: 0.58 orders vs post: 1.12, P = 0.009) and 24 hours (pre: 1.52 vs post: 2.38, P = 0.004) following admission (not including admission orders), but we did not detect a significantly higher percentage of orders written at night. This shift-based coverage system was associated with a g...
American journal of medical quality : the official journal of the American College of Medical Quality, Jan 22, 2015
Engaging physicians in hand hygiene programs is a challenge faced by many academic medical center... more Engaging physicians in hand hygiene programs is a challenge faced by many academic medical centers. Partnerships between education and academic leaders present opportunities for effective collaboration and improvement. The authors developed a robust hand hygiene quality improvement program, with attention to rapid-cycle improvements, including all levels of staff and health care providers. The program included a defined governance structure, clear data collection process, educational interventions, rapid-cycle improvements, and financial incentive for staff and physicians (including residents and fellows). Outcomes were measured on patients in all clinical areas. Run charts were used to document compliance in aggregate and by subgroups throughout the project duration. Institutional targets were achieved and then exceeded, with sustained hand hygiene compliance >90%. Physician compliance lagged behind aggregate compliance but ultimately was sustained at a level exceeding the targe...
Journal of Hospital Medicine, 2015
International journal of pediatric otorhinolaryngology, 2001
To examine the effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the pulmonary status of cystic fibrosis (CF... more To examine the effects of endoscopic sinus surgery on the pulmonary status of cystic fibrosis (CF) patients through the objective parameters of steroid use, pulmonary function tests (PFTs), and inpatient hospital days (IHDs). Retrospective chart review of all patients with CF who underwent endoscopic sinus surgery from 1993 to 1999 at a tertiary care children's hospital. Preoperative pulmonary function, inhaler and steroid use, and IHDs were compared to postoperative parameters within a 1-year period. Sixty-six patients, including eight lung transplant patients, underwent a total of 112 endoscopic sinus surgery procedures; 25 patients underwent more than one procedure. Patients were taking oral steroids preoperatively in 28% of procedures and inhaled steroids in 40%. Postoperatively, there was no statistically significant change in oral or inhaled steroid use, or in postoperative pulmonary function. If the index hospitalization, which was often for reasons not related to sinus d...
British journal of cancer, 1999
The recently identified Fanconi anaemia A (FAA) gene is located on chromosomal band 16q24.3 withi... more The recently identified Fanconi anaemia A (FAA) gene is located on chromosomal band 16q24.3 within a region that has been frequently reported to show loss of heterozygosity (LOH) in breast cancer. FAA mutation analysis of 19 breast tumours with specific LOH at 16q24.3 was performed. Single-stranded conformational polymorphism (SSCP) analysis on cDNA and genomic DNA, and Southern blotting failed to identify any tumour-specific mutations. Five polymorphisms were identified, but frequencies of occurrence did not deviate from those in a normal control population. Therefore, the FAA gene is not the gene targeted by LOH at 16q24.3 in breast cancer. Another tumour suppressor gene in this chromosomal region remains to be identified.
2014 IEEE Healthcare Innovation Conference (HIC), 2014
Journal of hospital medicine, Jan 11, 2015
Although timely treatment of sepsis improves outcomes, delays in administering evidence-based the... more Although timely treatment of sepsis improves outcomes, delays in administering evidence-based therapies are common. To determine whether automated real-time electronic sepsis alerts can: (1) accurately identify sepsis and (2) improve process measures and outcomes. We systematically searched MEDLINE, Embase, The Cochrane Library, and Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature from database inception through June 27, 2014. Included studies that empirically evaluated 1 or both of the prespecified objectives. Two independent reviewers extracted data and assessed the risk of bias. Diagnostic accuracy of sepsis identification was measured by sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value (PPV), negative predictive value (NPV), and likelihood ratio (LR). Effectiveness was assessed by changes in sepsis care process measures and outcomes. Of 1293 citations, 8 studies met inclusion criteria, 5 for the identification of sepsis (n = 35,423) and 5 for the effectiveness of seps...
JAMA Internal Medicine, 2015
Medicare currently penalizes hospitals for high readmission rates for seniors but does not accoun... more Medicare currently penalizes hospitals for high readmission rates for seniors but does not account for common age-related syndromes, such as functional impairment. To assess the effects of functional impairment on Medicare hospital readmissions given the high prevalence of functional impairments in community-dwelling seniors. We created a nationally representative cohort of 7854 community-dwelling seniors in the Health and Retirement Study, with 22 289 Medicare hospitalizations from January 1, 2000, through December 31, 2010. Outcome was 30-day readmission assessed by Medicare claims. The main predictor was functional impairment determined from the Health and Retirement Study interview preceding hospitalization, stratified into the following 5 levels: no functional impairments, difficulty with 1 or more instrumental activities of daily living, difficulty with 1 or more activities of daily living (ADL), dependency (need for help) in 1 to 2 ADLs, and dependency in 3 or more ADLs. Adjustment variables included age, race/ethnicity, sex, annual income, net worth, comorbid conditions (Elixhauser score from Medicare claims), and prior admission. We performed multivariable logistic regression to adjust for clustering at the patient level to characterize the association of functional impairments and readmission. Patients had a mean (SD) age of 78.5 (7.7) years (range, 65-105 years); 58.4% were female, 84.9% were white, 89.6% reported 3 or more comorbidities, and 86.0% had 1 or more hospitalizations in the previous year. Overall, 48.3% had some level of functional impairment before admission, and 15.5% of hospitalizations were followed by readmission within 30 days. We found a progressive increase in the adjusted risk of readmission as the degree of functional impairment increased: 13.5% with no functional impairment, 14.3% with difficulty with 1 or more instrumental activities of daily living (odds ratio [OR], 1.06; 95% CI, 0.94-1.20), 14.4% with difficulty with 1 or more ADL (OR, 1.08; 95% CI, 0.96-1.21), 16.5% with dependency in 1 to 2 ADLs (OR, 1.26; 95% CI, 1.11-1.44), and 18.2% with dependency in 3 or more ADLs (OR, 1.42; 95% CI, 1.20-1.69). Subanalysis restricted to patients admitted with conditions targeted by Medicare (ie, heart failure, myocardial infarction, and pneumonia) revealed a parallel trend with larger effects for the most impaired (16.9% readmission rate for no impairment vs 25.7% for dependency in 3 or more ADLs [OR, 1.70; 95% CI, 1.04-2.78]). Functional impairment is associated with increased risk of 30-day all-cause hospital readmission in Medicare seniors, especially those admitted for heart failure, myocardial infarction, or pneumonia. Functional impairment may be an important but underaddressed factor in preventing readmissions for Medicare seniors.
Journal of General Internal Medicine, 2010
BACKGROUND Hopelessness is associated with mortality in patients with cardiac disease even after... more BACKGROUND Hopelessness is associated with mortality in patients with cardiac disease even after accounting for severity of depression. We sought to determine whether a polymorphism in the promoter region of the serotonin transporter gene (5-HTTLPR) is associated with increased hopelessness, and whether this effect is modified by sex, age, antidepressant use or depression in patients with coronary heart disease. METHODS We conducted
JAMA Internal Medicine, 2014
Journal of thoracic imaging, 2003
To determine if CT variables predict in-hospital morbidity and mortality in patients with pulmona... more To determine if CT variables predict in-hospital morbidity and mortality in patients with pulmonary embolism (PE). CT scans and charts of 173 patients with CT scans positive for PE were reviewed. CT scans were reviewed for leftward ventricular septal bowing, increased right ventricle (RV) to left ventricle (LV) diameter ratio, clot burden, increased pulmonary artery to aorta diameter ratio, and oligemia. Charts were reviewed for severe morbidity and mortality outcomes: death from pulmonary emboli or any cause, and cardiac arrest. Charts were also reviewed for milder morbidity outcomes: intubation, vasopressor use, or admission to an intensive care unit (ICU) and for multiple comorbidities. No CT predictor was significantly associated with severe morbidity or mortality outcomes. Ventricular septal bowing and increased RV/LV diameter ratio were both associated with subsequent admission to an ICU (P = 0.004 and P = 0.025, respectively). Oligemia (either lung) was associated with subseq...
SLEEP, 2000
To determine whether adaptations to comply with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Educat... more To determine whether adaptations to comply with Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) duty hour requirements are associated with changes in total cost and length of stay. Retrospective, interrupted time-series cohort study using concurrent control patients. UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, San Francisco, CA. Inpatients newborn to 18 y on the primary pediatrics medical-surgical unit. Medical patients were studied before and after an intervention, and surgical patients served as a concurrent control group. Pediatrics trainees' work schedules were changed from those that relied on prolonged call shifts to those primarily based on shorter day shifts and night shifts. We detected significant relative reductions in length of stay but not in total cost. When the analysis was limited to the subset of patients who did not receive intensive care unit care, length of stay decreased by 18% and total cost decreased by 10%. We did not detect similar changes in the control group. A trainee staffing model that included shorter shifts as consistent with current ACGME duty hour requirements was associated with reduced length of stay and total costs for patients not in the intensive care unit.
Pediatric Blood & Cancer, 2014
Faced with a lack of evidence, institutions often develop local protocols for use of heparin to f... more Faced with a lack of evidence, institutions often develop local protocols for use of heparin to flush-lock venous access ports. Our objective was to evaluate catheter-related complications in patients after introduction of a lower-concentration heparin flush protocol. Patients with implanted vascular access devices followed by a Pediatric Oncology service were exposed to a practice change in which heparin dose for flush-lock was decreased from 5 ml of 100 units/ml to 5 ml of 10 units/ml. Outcome measures included port malfunctions leading to use of intra-port tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and positive blood cultures. Rates of tPA usage were statistically similar before and after the practice change (0.82 compared to 0.59 per 100 line days absolute change -0.23, 95% CI -0.66, 0.20). Positive blood culture rates were also statistically similar before and after the practice change. Children with implanted ports had similar complication rates and care safety measures whether their ports were flushed with 10 units/ml of heparin or 100 units/ml. Standardizing flush-locks to lower doses of heparin may be a promising approach to maintaining port patency without compromising patient safety.
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Papers by Andrew Auerbach