Background Sitting at the bedside may strengthen physician–patient communication and improve patient experience. Yet despite the potential benefits of sitting, hospital physicians, including resident physicians, may not regularly sit down while speaking with patients. Objective To examine the frequency of sitting by internal medicine residents (including first post-graduate year [PGY-1] and supervising [PGY-2/3] residents) during inpatient encounters and to assess the association between patient-reported sitting at the bedside and patients’ perceptions of other physician communication behaviors. We also assessed residents’ attitudes towards sitting. Design In-person survey of patients and email survey of internal medicine residents between August 2019 and January 2020. Participants Patients admitted to general medicine teaching services and internal medicine residents at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. Main Measures Patient-reported frequency of sitting at the bedside, patients’ perceptions of other communication behaviors (e.g., checking for understanding); residents’ attitudes regarding sitting. Key Results Of 334 eligible patients, 256 (76%) completed a survey. Among these 256 respondents, 198 (77%) and 166 (65%) reported recognizing the PGY-1 and PGY-2/3 on their care team, respectively, for a total of 364 completed surveys. On most surveys (203/364, 56%), patients responded that residents “never” sat. Frequent sitting at the bedside (“every single time” or “most of the time,” together 48/364, 13%) was correlated with other positive behaviors, including spending enough time at the bedside, checking for understanding, and not seeming to be in a rush ( p < 0.01 for all). Of 151 residents, 77 (51%) completed the resident survey; 28 of the 77 (36%) reported sitting frequently. The most commonly cited barrier to sitting was that chairs were not available (38 respondents, 49%). Conclusions Patients perceived that residents sit infrequently. However, sitting was associated with other positive communication behaviors; this is compatible with the hypothesis that promoting sitting could improve overall patient perceptions of provider communication. Supplementary Information The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11606-021-07231-4.

Background: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is a common cause of hospital admissions, readmissions, and mortality worldwide. Digital health interventions (DHIs) that promote self-management, adherence to guideline-directed therapy, and cardiovascular risk reduction may improve health outcomes in this population. The "Corrie" DHI consists of a smartphone application, smartwatch, and wireless blood pressure monitor to support medication tracking, education, vital signs monitoring, and care coordination. We aimed to assess the cost-effectiveness of this DHI plus standard of care in reducing 30-day readmissions among AMI patients in comparison to standard of care alone.Methods: A Markov model was used to explore cost-effectiveness from the hospital perspective. The time horizon of the analysis was 1 year, with 30-day cycles, using inflation-adjusted cost data with no discount rate. Currencies were quantified in US dollars, and effectiveness was measured in quality-adjusted life-years (QALYs). The results were interpreted as an incremental cost-effectiveness ratio at a threshold of $100,000 per QALY. Univariate sensitivity and multivariate probabilistic sensitivity analyses tested model uncertainty. Results:The DHI reduced costs and increased QALYs on average, dominating standard of care in 99.7% of simulations in the From the

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