Perceived Safety and Value of Inpatient "Very Important Person" Services

Joshua Allen-Dicker; Andrew Auerbach; Shoshana J Herzig

doi:10.12788/jhm.2701

Perceived Safety and Value of Inpatient "Very Important Person" Services

J Hosp Med. 2017 Mar;12(3):177-179. doi: 10.12788/jhm.2701.

Authors

Joshua Allen-Dicker^{1

2}, Andrew Auerbach³, Shoshana J Herzig^{1

2}

Affiliations

¹ Division of General Medicine and Primary Care, Department of Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Boston, MA, USA.
² Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA.
³ Division of Hospital Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.

PMID: 28272595
DOI: 10.12788/jhm.2701

Abstract

Providing care to "very important person" (VIP) patients can pose unique moral and value-based challenges for providers. No studies have examined VIP services in the inpatient setting. Through a multi-institutional survey of hospitalists, we assessed physician viewpoints and behavior surrounding the care of VIP patients. A significant proportion of respondents reported feeling pressured by patients, family members, and hospital representatives to provide unnecessary care to VIP patients. Based on self-reported perceptions, as well as case-based questions, we also found that the VIP status of a patient may impact physician clinical decision-making related to unnecessary medical care. Additional studies to quantify the use of VIP services and its effect on cost, resource availability, and patient-specific outcomes are needed. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:177-179.

MeSH terms

Female
Hospitalists / psychology
Hospitalists / standards*
Hospitalization*
Humans
Inpatients / psychology
Male
Patient Safety / standards*
Patient Satisfaction*
Perception*