Journal of hospital medicine : an official publication of the Society of Hospital Medicine
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Women continue to be underrepresented as speakers at national conferences, and research has shown similar trends in hospital medicine. The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) Annual Meeting has historically had an open call peer review process for workshop speakers and, in 2019, expanded the process for didactic speakers. We aimed to assess the overall conference trends for women speakers and whether the systematic processes in recruitment procedures (ie, open call) resulted in improved representation of women speakers. ⋯ From 2015 to 2019, the overall representation of women speakers increased, as did evaluation scores during the same time period. When selection processes included the open call peer review process, there were higher proportions of women speakers. An open call process with peer review for speakers may be a systematic process that national meetings could replicate to reduce gender inequities.
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Readmissions after exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) are penalized under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP). Understanding attributable diagnoses at readmission would improve readmission reduction strategies. ⋯ Thirty-day readmissions following COPD exacerbations are common, and 55% of them are attributable to non-COPD diagnoses at the time of return. Higher burden of comorbidity is observed among non-COPD than COPD rehospitalizations. Readmission reduction efforts should focus intensively on factors beyond COPD disease management to reduce readmissions considerably by aggressively attempting to mitigate comorbid conditions.
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Multicenter Study
Social Disadvantage, Access to Care, and Disparities in Physical Functioning Among Children Hospitalized with Respiratory Illness.
Understanding disparities in child health-related quality of life (HRQoL) may reveal opportunities for targeted improvement. This study examined associations between social disadvantage, access to care, and child physical functioning before and after hospitalization for acute respiratory illness. ⋯ Having social disadvantage markers or difficulty/delays accessing care was associated with lower baseline physical functioning; however, differences were reduced after hospital discharge.
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Multicenter Study
Patient Preferences for Physician Attire: A Multicenter Study in Japan.
Previous studies have shown that patients have specific expectations regarding physician dress. Japan has a cultural background that is in many ways distinct from western countries. Thus, physician attire may have a different impact in Japan. ⋯ The majority of Japanese patients indicated that physician attire is important and influenced their satisfaction with care. Geography, settings of care, and patient age appear to play a role in patient preferences.