Technology is increasingly proposed as a more efficient conduit to facilitate communication between generalist and specialist providers. However, little is understood about how to use these technologies to improve provider-to-provider collaboration and communication regarding specialist consultations. Electronic portals (e.g., EPIC, CPRS) serve an important role in enhancing connectivity between providers across service lines, but greater connectivity does not necessarily translate into greater collaboration.

We propose the use of activity trackers (such as 'Fitbits') in an inpatient center to encourage patient mobility and more precisely measure the amount and types of activities patients are performing. De-identified data from these activity trackers would be presented electronically both to providers/staff and to patients in order to motivate patients and to allow staff to see patients that were due for a mobilization session. 

Do we have the technology to develop a beeper/device that has the capability to text back to nurses voalte phones?  It would obviate the need to reach out for a phone or a computer every time a doctor is paged, and would improve communication among team members. 

The Problem. Ambulatory physicians utilize many different types of standardized assessments, ranging from depression screening, to functional pain assessments for patients on opiates, to incontinence and benign prostatic hypertrophy screening for older women and men. Many of these assessments are used in both primary care and specialty practice.

Among the most important components of the hospital discharge summary is the section titled "Follow-up Needs for the Primary Care Physician." This contains specific "to-do's" such as "follow up blood culture results" or "check potassium level in 1 week." These items are often crucial continuations of care needed to close the loop on productive and high-quality hospitalizations. However, they are buried in the bottom of a several page-long discharge summary, making them less likely to be seen and acted on by PCP's. 

Create a program to allow investigators to directly solicit crowdfunding support for their research projects.   Similar to Indiegogo and Kickstarter but for UCSF vetted scientific research.

There is a disconnect between the Academic and Clinic Patient Calendaring.

Currently Admin's don't have access to the Clinic Schedules and while some clinic schedulers have general access to faculty calendars, they cannot see up to minute changes in availability entered by Admins or Faculty.  

I'm suggesting a system that will:

Database of abbreviations that live in apex.  When someone includes an abbreviation in a note, the reader can hover over the abbreviation with their mouse and see the full text of potential abbreviations.

Examples:

PCA = Patient Care Assistant, Patient-Controlled Analgesia

s/f = scheduled for

Anecdotal evidence from discussing with Gastroenterology providers at UCSF suggests that patient-provider messaging has become a major aspect of clinical care at UCSF, taking up significant time and providing valuable service to patients. However, there is no formal requirement to provide this type of care, nor is there a mechanism to provide re-imbursement. It is clear that this type of care will continue to increase in importance and use over time. I propose a project to formally study its use, highlighting the following aspects:

Pagers Begone: A Proposal For a Secure, Modern, Mobile Hospital Messaging System

There are two big problems with intra-team communication on the inpatient medicine service at UCSF hospital: