Patients' experiences in an acute care environment are fraught with complexities and risk. Today's hospitals are filled with highly trained service providers, technological marvels, and often, a full-time, employed medical staff. Except in the smallest community hospitals, medical care is often managed by a combination of primary care physicians, medical specialists, hospitalists, and intensivists. Yet complications occur daily in hospitals throughout the country and make frequent headlines—often because of care coordination issues.