Brendon Shank

The Journal of Hospital Medicine (JHM), SHM’s specialty-leading, peer-reviewed journal, will go from publishing nine issues each year to publishing 12 monthly issues, starting with the January 2013 issue.

The expansion is a natural but important one to editor in chief Andrew D. Auerbach, MD, MPH. Specifically, it is a positive indicator for the entire specialty.

“The transition to a monthly publication is an important milestone for JHM, because it means the field of hospital medicine continues to grow as an academic discipline in the quality and quantity of the scholarly work it is producing,” Dr. Auerbach says.

In 2012, SHM added additional pages to each JHM issue to accommodate the quantity of accepted submissions to the publication.

The addition of three issues per year is just one of many new developments, Dr. Auerbach adds.

“The journal makes this transition as it also completes implementation of a more efficient peer-review process, which provides excellent feedback to authors in a timely fashion. For example, authors can expect feedback from the journal within 28 days currently, as opposed to 50 or more days in the past,” he says. “This allows JHM and authors to ensure their work is published in a timely manner, which increases impact of the manuscript and furthers the field.”

Established in 2006, the Journal of Hospital Medicine now reaches nearly 9,000 hospitalists and others.

The Journal of Hospital Medicine (JHM), SHM’s specialty-leading, peer-reviewed journal, will go from publishing nine issues each year to publishing 12 monthly issues, starting with the January 2013 issue.

The expansion is a natural but important one to editor in chief Andrew D. Auerbach, MD, MPH. Specifically, it is a positive indicator for the entire specialty.

“The transition to a monthly publication is an important milestone for JHM, because it means the field of hospital medicine continues to grow as an academic discipline in the quality and quantity of the scholarly work it is producing,” Dr. Auerbach says.

In 2012, SHM added additional pages to each JHM issue to accommodate the quantity of accepted submissions to the publication.

The addition of three issues per year is just one of many new developments, Dr. Auerbach adds.

“The journal makes this transition as it also completes implementation of a more efficient peer-review process, which provides excellent feedback to authors in a timely fashion. For example, authors can expect feedback from the journal within 28 days currently, as opposed to 50 or more days in the past,” he says. “This allows JHM and authors to ensure their work is published in a timely manner, which increases impact of the manuscript and furthers the field.”

Established in 2006, the Journal of Hospital Medicine now reaches nearly 9,000 hospitalists and others.

The Journal of Hospital Medicine (JHM), SHM’s specialty-leading, peer-reviewed journal, will go from publishing nine issues each year to publishing 12 monthly issues, starting with the January 2013 issue.

The expansion is a natural but important one to editor in chief Andrew D. Auerbach, MD, MPH. Specifically, it is a positive indicator for the entire specialty.

“The transition to a monthly publication is an important milestone for JHM, because it means the field of hospital medicine continues to grow as an academic discipline in the quality and quantity of the scholarly work it is producing,” Dr. Auerbach says.

In 2012, SHM added additional pages to each JHM issue to accommodate the quantity of accepted submissions to the publication.

The addition of three issues per year is just one of many new developments, Dr. Auerbach adds.

“The journal makes this transition as it also completes implementation of a more efficient peer-review process, which provides excellent feedback to authors in a timely fashion. For example, authors can expect feedback from the journal within 28 days currently, as opposed to 50 or more days in the past,” he says. “This allows JHM and authors to ensure their work is published in a timely manner, which increases impact of the manuscript and furthers the field.”

Established in 2006, the Journal of Hospital Medicine now reaches nearly 9,000 hospitalists and others.

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Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the country travel to Washington, D.C., and visit Congress. Regardless of the organizations they represent, almost all of them have one thing in common: They go to Capitol Hill with an “ask.”

Some ask for a vote on a particular piece of legislation; some request funding for their projects. Regardless, there is almost always an ask.

But hospitalists are different, according to SHM Public Policy Committee chair Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, MHM, and committee member Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, SFHM. They are featured in a new video about “Hospitalists on the Hill,” SHM’s day to meet with members of Congress.

Rather than lobbying or asking for assistance, hospitalists bring solutions to the healthcare problems currently vexing communities throughout the country. By introducing the hospitalist model and its role in quality improvement (QI) to some of the most influential government figures in public health, hospitalists who make the visit to Capitol Hill help to spread some of the best practices in hospital-based healthcare and share their personal experiences at the same time.

“Every constituency that comes in is asking them for something,” Dr. Greeno says in one of the SHM-produced videos. “We don’t ask for anything. We offer. We offer our expertise. We offer to help them make better decisions than they would make otherwise.”

That contribution matters to members of Congress and their healthcare staff. Drs. Greeno and Flansbaum are “Hill Day” veterans who have seen firsthand how legislators and their staff absorb SHM’s message and materials.

“I thought that if we are leaving materials behind, that the minute we walk out of the office, it was going in the trash,” Dr. Greeno says. “That’s not what happens. They read this stuff.”

In 2013, Hospitalists on the Hill will take place May 16, the day before the official start of HM’s annual meeting at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., just a few minutes south of Washington, D.C. The agenda is ambitious, starting with a briefing about what to expect when meeting Congress members on Capitol Hill, followed by a full day of meetings with policymakers, regulators, and their staff.

“We spend our day going back and forth, from the Senate side of the Capitol to the House side of the Capitol, in and out of the office buildings, walking the halls of Congress,” Dr. Greeno says. “It’s a blast. It’s so interesting. And we’re getting a chance to sit down and deliver our message.”

For Dr. Flansbaum, it’s an opportunity to promote action in Washington.

“It really brings government to life,” he says. “You realize that, as bottlenecked as things might be sometimes, things have to get done.”

HM13 attendees can sign-up for Hospitalists on the Hill during annual-meeing registration. For more information, visit www.hospitalmedicine2013.org/onthehill.

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the country travel to Washington, D.C., and visit Congress. Regardless of the organizations they represent, almost all of them have one thing in common: They go to Capitol Hill with an “ask.”

Some ask for a vote on a particular piece of legislation; some request funding for their projects. Regardless, there is almost always an ask.

But hospitalists are different, according to SHM Public Policy Committee chair Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, MHM, and committee member Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, SFHM. They are featured in a new video about “Hospitalists on the Hill,” SHM’s day to meet with members of Congress.

Rather than lobbying or asking for assistance, hospitalists bring solutions to the healthcare problems currently vexing communities throughout the country. By introducing the hospitalist model and its role in quality improvement (QI) to some of the most influential government figures in public health, hospitalists who make the visit to Capitol Hill help to spread some of the best practices in hospital-based healthcare and share their personal experiences at the same time.

“Every constituency that comes in is asking them for something,” Dr. Greeno says in one of the SHM-produced videos. “We don’t ask for anything. We offer. We offer our expertise. We offer to help them make better decisions than they would make otherwise.”

That contribution matters to members of Congress and their healthcare staff. Drs. Greeno and Flansbaum are “Hill Day” veterans who have seen firsthand how legislators and their staff absorb SHM’s message and materials.

“I thought that if we are leaving materials behind, that the minute we walk out of the office, it was going in the trash,” Dr. Greeno says. “That’s not what happens. They read this stuff.”

In 2013, Hospitalists on the Hill will take place May 16, the day before the official start of HM’s annual meeting at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., just a few minutes south of Washington, D.C. The agenda is ambitious, starting with a briefing about what to expect when meeting Congress members on Capitol Hill, followed by a full day of meetings with policymakers, regulators, and their staff.

“We spend our day going back and forth, from the Senate side of the Capitol to the House side of the Capitol, in and out of the office buildings, walking the halls of Congress,” Dr. Greeno says. “It’s a blast. It’s so interesting. And we’re getting a chance to sit down and deliver our message.”

For Dr. Flansbaum, it’s an opportunity to promote action in Washington.

“It really brings government to life,” he says. “You realize that, as bottlenecked as things might be sometimes, things have to get done.”

HM13 attendees can sign-up for Hospitalists on the Hill during annual-meeing registration. For more information, visit www.hospitalmedicine2013.org/onthehill.

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

Every year, hundreds of thousands of people from all parts of the country travel to Washington, D.C., and visit Congress. Regardless of the organizations they represent, almost all of them have one thing in common: They go to Capitol Hill with an “ask.”

Some ask for a vote on a particular piece of legislation; some request funding for their projects. Regardless, there is almost always an ask.

But hospitalists are different, according to SHM Public Policy Committee chair Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, MHM, and committee member Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, SFHM. They are featured in a new video about “Hospitalists on the Hill,” SHM’s day to meet with members of Congress.

Rather than lobbying or asking for assistance, hospitalists bring solutions to the healthcare problems currently vexing communities throughout the country. By introducing the hospitalist model and its role in quality improvement (QI) to some of the most influential government figures in public health, hospitalists who make the visit to Capitol Hill help to spread some of the best practices in hospital-based healthcare and share their personal experiences at the same time.

“Every constituency that comes in is asking them for something,” Dr. Greeno says in one of the SHM-produced videos. “We don’t ask for anything. We offer. We offer our expertise. We offer to help them make better decisions than they would make otherwise.”

That contribution matters to members of Congress and their healthcare staff. Drs. Greeno and Flansbaum are “Hill Day” veterans who have seen firsthand how legislators and their staff absorb SHM’s message and materials.

“I thought that if we are leaving materials behind, that the minute we walk out of the office, it was going in the trash,” Dr. Greeno says. “That’s not what happens. They read this stuff.”

In 2013, Hospitalists on the Hill will take place May 16, the day before the official start of HM’s annual meeting at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md., just a few minutes south of Washington, D.C. The agenda is ambitious, starting with a briefing about what to expect when meeting Congress members on Capitol Hill, followed by a full day of meetings with policymakers, regulators, and their staff.

“We spend our day going back and forth, from the Senate side of the Capitol to the House side of the Capitol, in and out of the office buildings, walking the halls of Congress,” Dr. Greeno says. “It’s a blast. It’s so interesting. And we’re getting a chance to sit down and deliver our message.”

For Dr. Flansbaum, it’s an opportunity to promote action in Washington.

“It really brings government to life,” he says. “You realize that, as bottlenecked as things might be sometimes, things have to get done.”

HM13 attendees can sign-up for Hospitalists on the Hill during annual-meeing registration. For more information, visit www.hospitalmedicine2013.org/onthehill.

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

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HM12 in San Diego was the largest gathering of hospitalists in history. Approximately 2,700 hospitalists shared in the common successes and challenges facing HM and the healthcare system.

Organizers expect HM13 will have the same energy and even more opportunities for education and networking. The annual meeting returns to the nation’s capital this spring, with pre-courses beginning May 16 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The three-day regular meeting begins May 17.

Registration is available at www.hospitalmedicine2013.org. The meeting website is the top source for news about program updates, educational sessions, and special promotions.

Here are five tips for planning your trip to HM13:

• Request time off early and coordinate with colleagues. Now is the time to request the time off.
• Register soon. Early registration discounts only apply for the next few months. And pre-courses often fill up quickly.
• Consider your options. Come a day early for valuable pre-courses or SHM’s “Hospitalists on the Hill” visit to Washington, D.C.
• Make a vacation of it. Take advantage of all that Washington has to offer by staying through the following weekend.
• Network ahead of time. Many hospitalists use the annual meeting for valuable career networking. Get started early by booking meetings and telling colleagues via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that you’re attending.

HM12 in San Diego was the largest gathering of hospitalists in history. Approximately 2,700 hospitalists shared in the common successes and challenges facing HM and the healthcare system.

Organizers expect HM13 will have the same energy and even more opportunities for education and networking. The annual meeting returns to the nation’s capital this spring, with pre-courses beginning May 16 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The three-day regular meeting begins May 17.

Registration is available at www.hospitalmedicine2013.org. The meeting website is the top source for news about program updates, educational sessions, and special promotions.

Here are five tips for planning your trip to HM13:

• Request time off early and coordinate with colleagues. Now is the time to request the time off.
• Register soon. Early registration discounts only apply for the next few months. And pre-courses often fill up quickly.
• Consider your options. Come a day early for valuable pre-courses or SHM’s “Hospitalists on the Hill” visit to Washington, D.C.
• Make a vacation of it. Take advantage of all that Washington has to offer by staying through the following weekend.
• Network ahead of time. Many hospitalists use the annual meeting for valuable career networking. Get started early by booking meetings and telling colleagues via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that you’re attending.

HM12 in San Diego was the largest gathering of hospitalists in history. Approximately 2,700 hospitalists shared in the common successes and challenges facing HM and the healthcare system.

Organizers expect HM13 will have the same energy and even more opportunities for education and networking. The annual meeting returns to the nation’s capital this spring, with pre-courses beginning May 16 at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center in National Harbor, Md. The three-day regular meeting begins May 17.

Registration is available at www.hospitalmedicine2013.org. The meeting website is the top source for news about program updates, educational sessions, and special promotions.

Here are five tips for planning your trip to HM13:

• Request time off early and coordinate with colleagues. Now is the time to request the time off.
• Register soon. Early registration discounts only apply for the next few months. And pre-courses often fill up quickly.
• Consider your options. Come a day early for valuable pre-courses or SHM’s “Hospitalists on the Hill” visit to Washington, D.C.
• Make a vacation of it. Take advantage of all that Washington has to offer by staying through the following weekend.
• Network ahead of time. Many hospitalists use the annual meeting for valuable career networking. Get started early by booking meetings and telling colleagues via Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn that you’re attending.

Are you looking to make a big impact on hospital medicine? Are you ready to network with innovative leaders in the specialty?

Now is the time to take the lead: Apply for a position on one of SHM’s many committees. Dec. 3 is the deadline for nominations.

The 2013-2014 term will commence May 17, 2013, and run through April 2014. Appointments will be made in February, at which time nominees will be told whether they were placed on a committee.

For more information or to apply, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/committees.

Are you looking to make a big impact on hospital medicine? Are you ready to network with innovative leaders in the specialty?

Now is the time to take the lead: Apply for a position on one of SHM’s many committees. Dec. 3 is the deadline for nominations.

The 2013-2014 term will commence May 17, 2013, and run through April 2014. Appointments will be made in February, at which time nominees will be told whether they were placed on a committee.

For more information or to apply, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/committees.

Are you looking to make a big impact on hospital medicine? Are you ready to network with innovative leaders in the specialty?

Now is the time to take the lead: Apply for a position on one of SHM’s many committees. Dec. 3 is the deadline for nominations.

The 2013-2014 term will commence May 17, 2013, and run through April 2014. Appointments will be made in February, at which time nominees will be told whether they were placed on a committee.

For more information or to apply, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/committees.

More than 1,000 SHM members have become Fellows, Senior Fellows, or Masters in Hospital Medicine. The FHM, SFHM, and MHM designations are SHM’s exclusive way for members to concretely demonstrate their experience and commitment to quality improvement (QI) and other core tenets of the specialty.

Successful candidates will be inducted as Fellows during the plenary sessions at HM13, May 16-19 in National Harbor, Md.

For the first time, hospitalists can apply online at www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

More than 1,000 SHM members have become Fellows, Senior Fellows, or Masters in Hospital Medicine. The FHM, SFHM, and MHM designations are SHM’s exclusive way for members to concretely demonstrate their experience and commitment to quality improvement (QI) and other core tenets of the specialty.

Successful candidates will be inducted as Fellows during the plenary sessions at HM13, May 16-19 in National Harbor, Md.

For the first time, hospitalists can apply online at www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

More than 1,000 SHM members have become Fellows, Senior Fellows, or Masters in Hospital Medicine. The FHM, SFHM, and MHM designations are SHM’s exclusive way for members to concretely demonstrate their experience and commitment to quality improvement (QI) and other core tenets of the specialty.

Successful candidates will be inducted as Fellows during the plenary sessions at HM13, May 16-19 in National Harbor, Md.

For the first time, hospitalists can apply online at www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Hospitalists join SHM for lots of reasons, but the ability to network with hospitalists across the country is among the top motivators. In an emerging medical specialty, being able to collaborate and connect with peers is critical to career development and improving care.

Now, SHM has made connecting and collaborating easier than ever with Hospital Medicine Exchange (HMX), the first online community exclusively for hospitalists and hot topics in HM. Using HMX, hospitalists can start public discussions, post responses, and share files in one location.

For fast-moving issues, such as healthcare reform and hospitalist program management, HMX enables hospitalists to go straight to the source of some of the most important innovations: other hospitalists.

Using HMX is easy. Hospitalists log in to HMX using their SHM member username and password at HMXchange.org (automated assistance is available for those who don’t know their usernames or passwords). Once logged into HMX, hospitalists can browse communities, check out recent discussion threads, and update their profiles. Members can browse contacts to connect with thousands of other HMX users.

In addition to being the new home for conversations in hospital medicine, communities within HMX are replacing an array of legacy programs (e.g. the email listservs for practice management and SHM’s Leadership Academy alumni). HMX provides new flexibility not available in older systems like the listservs. Users can now opt into communities easily and decide how often they receive updates via email.

Conversation-Starters

Some hospitalists began collaborating with the HMX platform nearly a year ago. At the time, the platform was known as Higher Logic and supported SHM’s CODE-H, an educational program for hospital coding, along with SHM’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Toolkit (HVBP), a set of online resources and a community for hospitalists preparing their hospitals for value-based purchasing.

Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, led the HVBP community and sees the promise that HMX offers hospitalists. “It’s a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element,” he says. “It has a very real personal element as well.”

The HVBP community used HMX as equal parts educational session, networking, and library. Dr. Torcson and community members presented webinars, then followed up with discussions. Community members also shared resources about value-based purchasing through the discussion threads and the online library.

The immediate online interaction proved to be especially valuable when discussing a topic that was anything but static, he says.

“Because hospital value-based purchasing was unfolding over a timeline from [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)], we were able to add content as the program unfolded, including policy papers from Washington, webinars, and other relevant information,” Dr. Torcson explains. “For something like value-based purchasing, there’s no definitive source, so the collaboration was helpful. It’s true for a lot of topics in hospital medicine.

“To have a community tool like this that can accommodate for all the different inputs is really very valuable,” he adds.

HMX is a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element. It has a very real personal element as well.

—Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, chair, SHM’s Performance Measuring and Reporting Committee

Something for Every Member

In addition to a community for general issues affecting hospitalists, HMX also features specific communities designed to facilitate conversations on particular issues. As the communities evolve and conversations develop, SHM will add new communities.

Because so many hospitalists access the Internet from mobile devices, HMX is available for iPhones, iPads, and Android platforms through a third-party mobile application. Instructions for downloading and using the app are available at the HMX website.

SHM notified certain listserv users and others about the HMX introduction in August and September. Users quickly took to the new platform. Within a week of introducing HMX, nearly 100 hospitalists logged in for the first time.

The early interest in HMX isn’t surprising to Dr. Torcson, who says he “definitely” will use HMX in the future.

“It’s a great way to share best practices and case studies,” he says. “The personal dimension was really nice to connect so easily with the hospital medicine community. It’s nice to get the perspectives from other colleagues around the country and in different settings.”

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

Hospitalists join SHM for lots of reasons, but the ability to network with hospitalists across the country is among the top motivators. In an emerging medical specialty, being able to collaborate and connect with peers is critical to career development and improving care.

Now, SHM has made connecting and collaborating easier than ever with Hospital Medicine Exchange (HMX), the first online community exclusively for hospitalists and hot topics in HM. Using HMX, hospitalists can start public discussions, post responses, and share files in one location.

For fast-moving issues, such as healthcare reform and hospitalist program management, HMX enables hospitalists to go straight to the source of some of the most important innovations: other hospitalists.

Using HMX is easy. Hospitalists log in to HMX using their SHM member username and password at HMXchange.org (automated assistance is available for those who don’t know their usernames or passwords). Once logged into HMX, hospitalists can browse communities, check out recent discussion threads, and update their profiles. Members can browse contacts to connect with thousands of other HMX users.

In addition to being the new home for conversations in hospital medicine, communities within HMX are replacing an array of legacy programs (e.g. the email listservs for practice management and SHM’s Leadership Academy alumni). HMX provides new flexibility not available in older systems like the listservs. Users can now opt into communities easily and decide how often they receive updates via email.

Conversation-Starters

Some hospitalists began collaborating with the HMX platform nearly a year ago. At the time, the platform was known as Higher Logic and supported SHM’s CODE-H, an educational program for hospital coding, along with SHM’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Toolkit (HVBP), a set of online resources and a community for hospitalists preparing their hospitals for value-based purchasing.

Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, led the HVBP community and sees the promise that HMX offers hospitalists. “It’s a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element,” he says. “It has a very real personal element as well.”

The HVBP community used HMX as equal parts educational session, networking, and library. Dr. Torcson and community members presented webinars, then followed up with discussions. Community members also shared resources about value-based purchasing through the discussion threads and the online library.

The immediate online interaction proved to be especially valuable when discussing a topic that was anything but static, he says.

“Because hospital value-based purchasing was unfolding over a timeline from [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)], we were able to add content as the program unfolded, including policy papers from Washington, webinars, and other relevant information,” Dr. Torcson explains. “For something like value-based purchasing, there’s no definitive source, so the collaboration was helpful. It’s true for a lot of topics in hospital medicine.

“To have a community tool like this that can accommodate for all the different inputs is really very valuable,” he adds.

HMX is a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element. It has a very real personal element as well.

—Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, chair, SHM’s Performance Measuring and Reporting Committee

Something for Every Member

In addition to a community for general issues affecting hospitalists, HMX also features specific communities designed to facilitate conversations on particular issues. As the communities evolve and conversations develop, SHM will add new communities.

Because so many hospitalists access the Internet from mobile devices, HMX is available for iPhones, iPads, and Android platforms through a third-party mobile application. Instructions for downloading and using the app are available at the HMX website.

SHM notified certain listserv users and others about the HMX introduction in August and September. Users quickly took to the new platform. Within a week of introducing HMX, nearly 100 hospitalists logged in for the first time.

The early interest in HMX isn’t surprising to Dr. Torcson, who says he “definitely” will use HMX in the future.

“It’s a great way to share best practices and case studies,” he says. “The personal dimension was really nice to connect so easily with the hospital medicine community. It’s nice to get the perspectives from other colleagues around the country and in different settings.”

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

Hospitalists join SHM for lots of reasons, but the ability to network with hospitalists across the country is among the top motivators. In an emerging medical specialty, being able to collaborate and connect with peers is critical to career development and improving care.

Now, SHM has made connecting and collaborating easier than ever with Hospital Medicine Exchange (HMX), the first online community exclusively for hospitalists and hot topics in HM. Using HMX, hospitalists can start public discussions, post responses, and share files in one location.

For fast-moving issues, such as healthcare reform and hospitalist program management, HMX enables hospitalists to go straight to the source of some of the most important innovations: other hospitalists.

Using HMX is easy. Hospitalists log in to HMX using their SHM member username and password at HMXchange.org (automated assistance is available for those who don’t know their usernames or passwords). Once logged into HMX, hospitalists can browse communities, check out recent discussion threads, and update their profiles. Members can browse contacts to connect with thousands of other HMX users.

In addition to being the new home for conversations in hospital medicine, communities within HMX are replacing an array of legacy programs (e.g. the email listservs for practice management and SHM’s Leadership Academy alumni). HMX provides new flexibility not available in older systems like the listservs. Users can now opt into communities easily and decide how often they receive updates via email.

Conversation-Starters

Some hospitalists began collaborating with the HMX platform nearly a year ago. At the time, the platform was known as Higher Logic and supported SHM’s CODE-H, an educational program for hospital coding, along with SHM’s Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Toolkit (HVBP), a set of online resources and a community for hospitalists preparing their hospitals for value-based purchasing.

Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, led the HVBP community and sees the promise that HMX offers hospitalists. “It’s a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element,” he says. “It has a very real personal element as well.”

The HVBP community used HMX as equal parts educational session, networking, and library. Dr. Torcson and community members presented webinars, then followed up with discussions. Community members also shared resources about value-based purchasing through the discussion threads and the online library.

The immediate online interaction proved to be especially valuable when discussing a topic that was anything but static, he says.

“Because hospital value-based purchasing was unfolding over a timeline from [the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)], we were able to add content as the program unfolded, including policy papers from Washington, webinars, and other relevant information,” Dr. Torcson explains. “For something like value-based purchasing, there’s no definitive source, so the collaboration was helpful. It’s true for a lot of topics in hospital medicine.

“To have a community tool like this that can accommodate for all the different inputs is really very valuable,” he adds.

HMX is a nice synthesis of both content and resources because of the networking element. It has a very real personal element as well.

—Patrick Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM, chair, SHM’s Performance Measuring and Reporting Committee

Something for Every Member

In addition to a community for general issues affecting hospitalists, HMX also features specific communities designed to facilitate conversations on particular issues. As the communities evolve and conversations develop, SHM will add new communities.

Because so many hospitalists access the Internet from mobile devices, HMX is available for iPhones, iPads, and Android platforms through a third-party mobile application. Instructions for downloading and using the app are available at the HMX website.

SHM notified certain listserv users and others about the HMX introduction in August and September. Users quickly took to the new platform. Within a week of introducing HMX, nearly 100 hospitalists logged in for the first time.

The early interest in HMX isn’t surprising to Dr. Torcson, who says he “definitely” will use HMX in the future.

“It’s a great way to share best practices and case studies,” he says. “The personal dimension was really nice to connect so easily with the hospital medicine community. It’s nice to get the perspectives from other colleagues around the country and in different settings.”

Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.

Kenric Maynor, MD, MPH, FHM

CAREER: Prior to joining Geisinger, Dr. Maynor served as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore.

Education: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital; and internal medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

Notable: Dr. Maynor’s responsibilities at Geisinger will include oversight of eight medical centers, as well as leading the implementation of a new hospitalist program at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pa., which is planned to be operational by fall.

FYI: A Native American member of the Lumbee Tribe in southeastern North Carolina, Dr. Maynor is an avid Baltimore Orioles fan.

Quotable: “Being designated as a Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine has confirmed to my institution my commitment to the growth and the development of hospitalists’ principles of quality improvement, innovation, and patient safety. It has given me instant access to other Fellows with similar interests to allow for networking and collaboration.”

Kenric Maynor, MD, MPH, FHM

CAREER: Prior to joining Geisinger, Dr. Maynor served as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore.

Education: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital; and internal medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

Notable: Dr. Maynor’s responsibilities at Geisinger will include oversight of eight medical centers, as well as leading the implementation of a new hospitalist program at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pa., which is planned to be operational by fall.

FYI: A Native American member of the Lumbee Tribe in southeastern North Carolina, Dr. Maynor is an avid Baltimore Orioles fan.

Quotable: “Being designated as a Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine has confirmed to my institution my commitment to the growth and the development of hospitalists’ principles of quality improvement, innovation, and patient safety. It has given me instant access to other Fellows with similar interests to allow for networking and collaboration.”

Kenric Maynor, MD, MPH, FHM

CAREER: Prior to joining Geisinger, Dr. Maynor served as a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar in Internal Medicine at Johns Hopkins Medical Center, Baltimore.

Education: University of North Carolina School of Medicine, internal medicine residency at Yale-New Haven Hospital; and internal medicine fellowship at Johns Hopkins Medical Center.

Notable: Dr. Maynor’s responsibilities at Geisinger will include oversight of eight medical centers, as well as leading the implementation of a new hospitalist program at Geisinger Community Medical Center in Scranton, Pa., which is planned to be operational by fall.

FYI: A Native American member of the Lumbee Tribe in southeastern North Carolina, Dr. Maynor is an avid Baltimore Orioles fan.

Quotable: “Being designated as a Fellow in the Society of Hospital Medicine has confirmed to my institution my commitment to the growth and the development of hospitalists’ principles of quality improvement, innovation, and patient safety. It has given me instant access to other Fellows with similar interests to allow for networking and collaboration.”

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