Brendon Shank

Last month, more than 2,500 hospitalists and experts in HM gathered just outside Washington, D.C., to share the very best the specialty has to offer. The record-setting attendance surpassed the previous record—set at HM09 in Chicago—by more than 20%.

For hospitalists across the country, the meeting provided the perfect venue for continued education, professional development, and networking with friends and colleagues. To SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, that is exactly what makes the annual meeting important.

“Hospital medicine is growing and evolving at a breakneck pace, and individual hospitalists are expected to keep up on a daily basis,” he says. “Our annual meeting is an opportunity to recognize the leaders in our field and identify the opportunities and challenges on the horizon for hospitalists.”

SHM Inducts First Senior Fellows and Masters in Hospital Medicine

The current and future leaders of HM were inducted as Fellows in Hospital Medicine at HM10 (see “Fellows in Hospital Medicine Class of 2010,” p.10). This year, SHM introduced the inaugural class of nearly 200 Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and three Masters in Hospital Medicine (MHM).

The three MHM designees—Winthrop F. Whitcomb, MD, MHM, Robert Wachter, MD, MHM, and John Nelson, MD, MHM—were recognized by SHM leadership for the “utmost demonstration of dedication to the field of hospital medicine through significant contributions to the development and maturation of the profession.”

“This is a true milestone for the hospital medicine specialty,” said Dr. Wellikson. “The Masters in Hospital Medicine designation is the Hall of Fame of hospital medicine. We are honored to acknowledge Drs. Nelson, Wachter, and Whitcomb. We’re also thrilled to induct hundreds of new Fellows and Senior Fellows into the program. Their demonstrated commitment to improving patient care is one of the hallmarks of hospital medicine.”

The new SFHM designees represent the field’s experienced leaders and the next level of credentialing beyond the original Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Senior Fellows must have at least five years of HM practice and have been a society member for at least five years.

 

SHM also inducted 190 new FHM designees. As the second class of Fellows, they join more than 500 other hospitalists who have practiced HM for five years and been a member of SHM for at least three years.

For more information about the SHM Fellowship program, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Featured Speakers Bring Focus to HM, Healthcare Policy

It’s no coincidence that SHM brought hospitalists to the nation’s capital for the annual meeting. The ongoing public debate over delivering patient care safely, effectively, and efficiently remains at the fore in the nation’s capital.

That was the point driven home by Dr. Wachter in his featured presentation on the final day of the conference. While the recently passed healthcare reform legislation addressed such issues as access to health insurance and costs, the legislation “kicked the can down the road,” he said.

For perspective from a hospital administrator who already has put into practice many of the reform recommendations, HM10 turned to Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Too much attention on political debate could be a distraction, Levy warned. Instead of getting too caught up in national political drama, Levy cautioned, hospitalists would do well to focus on their own practices and identify ways to reduce preventable errors in the hospital.

Levy’s speech was preceded by a panel discussion led by Public Policy Committee Chair Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, one of the newest members of the SHM board. Leslie Norwalk, a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, participated in the panel and was interviewed later that day by CNN Money about young, healthy individuals and the role they play in reducing health insurance costs.

Hospitalists Bone Up on Career and Clinical Skills

More than 900 hospitalists used the pre-courses at HM10 as an opportunity for continued professional education.

Presented on the day before the formal kickoff of HM10, each pre-course presented an in-depth look at some of the most pressing issues in HM. This year introduced two new pre-courses that characterized the wide range of topics: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

All told, HM10 was a resounding success that reflected the continued energy and enthusiasm of HM and its impact on healthcare. To SHM Vice President and General Manager Todd Von Deak, that momentum means looking to the future.

“We received great feedback from our attendees this year, and we’re looking forward to using that information to make an even stronger—and record-breaking—annual meeting in Dallas next year,” he said. “See you in 2011!” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Last month, more than 2,500 hospitalists and experts in HM gathered just outside Washington, D.C., to share the very best the specialty has to offer. The record-setting attendance surpassed the previous record—set at HM09 in Chicago—by more than 20%.

For hospitalists across the country, the meeting provided the perfect venue for continued education, professional development, and networking with friends and colleagues. To SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, that is exactly what makes the annual meeting important.

“Hospital medicine is growing and evolving at a breakneck pace, and individual hospitalists are expected to keep up on a daily basis,” he says. “Our annual meeting is an opportunity to recognize the leaders in our field and identify the opportunities and challenges on the horizon for hospitalists.”

SHM Inducts First Senior Fellows and Masters in Hospital Medicine

The current and future leaders of HM were inducted as Fellows in Hospital Medicine at HM10 (see “Fellows in Hospital Medicine Class of 2010,” p.10). This year, SHM introduced the inaugural class of nearly 200 Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and three Masters in Hospital Medicine (MHM).

The three MHM designees—Winthrop F. Whitcomb, MD, MHM, Robert Wachter, MD, MHM, and John Nelson, MD, MHM—were recognized by SHM leadership for the “utmost demonstration of dedication to the field of hospital medicine through significant contributions to the development and maturation of the profession.”

“This is a true milestone for the hospital medicine specialty,” said Dr. Wellikson. “The Masters in Hospital Medicine designation is the Hall of Fame of hospital medicine. We are honored to acknowledge Drs. Nelson, Wachter, and Whitcomb. We’re also thrilled to induct hundreds of new Fellows and Senior Fellows into the program. Their demonstrated commitment to improving patient care is one of the hallmarks of hospital medicine.”

The new SFHM designees represent the field’s experienced leaders and the next level of credentialing beyond the original Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Senior Fellows must have at least five years of HM practice and have been a society member for at least five years.

 

SHM also inducted 190 new FHM designees. As the second class of Fellows, they join more than 500 other hospitalists who have practiced HM for five years and been a member of SHM for at least three years.

For more information about the SHM Fellowship program, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Featured Speakers Bring Focus to HM, Healthcare Policy

It’s no coincidence that SHM brought hospitalists to the nation’s capital for the annual meeting. The ongoing public debate over delivering patient care safely, effectively, and efficiently remains at the fore in the nation’s capital.

That was the point driven home by Dr. Wachter in his featured presentation on the final day of the conference. While the recently passed healthcare reform legislation addressed such issues as access to health insurance and costs, the legislation “kicked the can down the road,” he said.

For perspective from a hospital administrator who already has put into practice many of the reform recommendations, HM10 turned to Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Too much attention on political debate could be a distraction, Levy warned. Instead of getting too caught up in national political drama, Levy cautioned, hospitalists would do well to focus on their own practices and identify ways to reduce preventable errors in the hospital.

Levy’s speech was preceded by a panel discussion led by Public Policy Committee Chair Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, one of the newest members of the SHM board. Leslie Norwalk, a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, participated in the panel and was interviewed later that day by CNN Money about young, healthy individuals and the role they play in reducing health insurance costs.

Hospitalists Bone Up on Career and Clinical Skills

More than 900 hospitalists used the pre-courses at HM10 as an opportunity for continued professional education.

Presented on the day before the formal kickoff of HM10, each pre-course presented an in-depth look at some of the most pressing issues in HM. This year introduced two new pre-courses that characterized the wide range of topics: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

All told, HM10 was a resounding success that reflected the continued energy and enthusiasm of HM and its impact on healthcare. To SHM Vice President and General Manager Todd Von Deak, that momentum means looking to the future.

“We received great feedback from our attendees this year, and we’re looking forward to using that information to make an even stronger—and record-breaking—annual meeting in Dallas next year,” he said. “See you in 2011!” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Last month, more than 2,500 hospitalists and experts in HM gathered just outside Washington, D.C., to share the very best the specialty has to offer. The record-setting attendance surpassed the previous record—set at HM09 in Chicago—by more than 20%.

For hospitalists across the country, the meeting provided the perfect venue for continued education, professional development, and networking with friends and colleagues. To SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, that is exactly what makes the annual meeting important.

“Hospital medicine is growing and evolving at a breakneck pace, and individual hospitalists are expected to keep up on a daily basis,” he says. “Our annual meeting is an opportunity to recognize the leaders in our field and identify the opportunities and challenges on the horizon for hospitalists.”

SHM Inducts First Senior Fellows and Masters in Hospital Medicine

The current and future leaders of HM were inducted as Fellows in Hospital Medicine at HM10 (see “Fellows in Hospital Medicine Class of 2010,” p.10). This year, SHM introduced the inaugural class of nearly 200 Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and three Masters in Hospital Medicine (MHM).

The three MHM designees—Winthrop F. Whitcomb, MD, MHM, Robert Wachter, MD, MHM, and John Nelson, MD, MHM—were recognized by SHM leadership for the “utmost demonstration of dedication to the field of hospital medicine through significant contributions to the development and maturation of the profession.”

“This is a true milestone for the hospital medicine specialty,” said Dr. Wellikson. “The Masters in Hospital Medicine designation is the Hall of Fame of hospital medicine. We are honored to acknowledge Drs. Nelson, Wachter, and Whitcomb. We’re also thrilled to induct hundreds of new Fellows and Senior Fellows into the program. Their demonstrated commitment to improving patient care is one of the hallmarks of hospital medicine.”

The new SFHM designees represent the field’s experienced leaders and the next level of credentialing beyond the original Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Senior Fellows must have at least five years of HM practice and have been a society member for at least five years.

 

SHM also inducted 190 new FHM designees. As the second class of Fellows, they join more than 500 other hospitalists who have practiced HM for five years and been a member of SHM for at least three years.

For more information about the SHM Fellowship program, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Featured Speakers Bring Focus to HM, Healthcare Policy

It’s no coincidence that SHM brought hospitalists to the nation’s capital for the annual meeting. The ongoing public debate over delivering patient care safely, effectively, and efficiently remains at the fore in the nation’s capital.

That was the point driven home by Dr. Wachter in his featured presentation on the final day of the conference. While the recently passed healthcare reform legislation addressed such issues as access to health insurance and costs, the legislation “kicked the can down the road,” he said.

For perspective from a hospital administrator who already has put into practice many of the reform recommendations, HM10 turned to Paul Levy, CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. Too much attention on political debate could be a distraction, Levy warned. Instead of getting too caught up in national political drama, Levy cautioned, hospitalists would do well to focus on their own practices and identify ways to reduce preventable errors in the hospital.

Levy’s speech was preceded by a panel discussion led by Public Policy Committee Chair Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, one of the newest members of the SHM board. Leslie Norwalk, a former Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) administrator, participated in the panel and was interviewed later that day by CNN Money about young, healthy individuals and the role they play in reducing health insurance costs.

Hospitalists Bone Up on Career and Clinical Skills

More than 900 hospitalists used the pre-courses at HM10 as an opportunity for continued professional education.

Presented on the day before the formal kickoff of HM10, each pre-course presented an in-depth look at some of the most pressing issues in HM. This year introduced two new pre-courses that characterized the wide range of topics: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

All told, HM10 was a resounding success that reflected the continued energy and enthusiasm of HM and its impact on healthcare. To SHM Vice President and General Manager Todd Von Deak, that momentum means looking to the future.

“We received great feedback from our attendees this year, and we’re looking forward to using that information to make an even stronger—and record-breaking—annual meeting in Dallas next year,” he said. “See you in 2011!” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Thousands of Michigan residents will have a better chance of avoiding readmission to the hospital thanks to a groundbreaking new collaboration between three of the state’s healthcare leaders.

Based on SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) model, the collaborative program will be managed by the University of Michigan in collaboration with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Michigan Blues provide and administer health benefits to 4.7 million Michigan residents.

Project BOOST helps hospitals reduce readmission rates by providing them with proven resources and expert mentoring to optimize the discharge transition process, enhance patient and family education practices, and improve the flow of information between inpatient and outpatient providers. Project BOOST was developed through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Earlier in the year, the program recruited 15 Michigan sites to participate. Training begins in May.

Each improvement team will be assigned a mentor to coach them through the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating Project BOOST at their site. Program participants will receive face-to-face training, monthly coaching sessions with their mentors, and a comprehensive toolkit to implement Project BOOST. Sites also participate in an online peer learning and collaboration network.

“This kind of innovative, targeted program benefits both the patient and the healthcare provider by establishing better communication between all parties,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, associate professor and director of hospital medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and SHM president.

To Flanders, it’s no coincidence that hospitalists are taking the lead in improving hospital discharges. “Readmissions are a pervasive but preventable problem,” he says. “Hospitalists are uniquely positioned to provide leadership within the hospital, to promote positive, system-based changes that improve patient satisfaction, and promote collaboration between hospitalists and primary-care physicians.”

In addition to being preventable, readmissions are costly, draining the resources, time, and energy of the patient, PCPs, and hospitals. Research in the April 2009 New England Journal of Medicine indicates that 20% of hospitalized patients are readmitted to the hospital within a month of their discharge.1 Nationally, readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion each year.1

Collaborative Partnerships

Prior to the program’s launch in Michigan, SHM recruited and mentored Project BOOST sites independently. However, like many productive relationships in a hospital, Project BOOST in Michigan depends on collaboration between experts.

 

“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is confident that this project, like our other Value Partnership programs that focus on robust, statewide, data-driven quality-improvement (QI) partnerships, will have a positive impact on thousands of Michigan lives,” says David Share, MD, MPH, BCBS Michigan’s senior associate medical director of Healthcare Quality. “We look forward to helping hospitals, physicians, and patients work together to assure smooth transitions between inpatient and outpatient care, and to reduce readmissions and improve the patient experience.”

For University of Michigan hospitalist Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, FHM, Project BOOST is a chance to work with a diverse set of groups. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with not just Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, but also with the other physician organizations across our state to implement and share best-practice ideas in transitions of care,” says Kim, director of the statewide collaborative program on transitions of care.

Results and Reports

Having launched six pilot sites just two years ago, adding 24 additional sites in 2009, Project BOOST is still a relatively young QI program, which makes reliable quantitative data about its effectiveness tough to come by. The expansion into Michigan gives SHM and others the prospect of programwide measurement of how Project BOOST affects discharge and reduces readmissions.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to improve patient safety, reduce readmissions, and study the impact of Project BOOST interventions through patient-level data,” says Mark Williams, MD, FHM, Journal of Hospital Medicine editor, principal investigator for Project BOOST, and former SHM president. “We’re thrilled to be working with the state’s healthcare leaders to implement this critical program.”

Nonetheless, in the absence of comprehensive data, the early reports from Project BOOST sites are promising. At Piedmont Hospital in the Atlanta area, the rate of readmission among patients under the age of 70 participating in BOOST is 8.5%, compared with 25.5% among nonparticipants. The readmission rate among BOOST participants at Piedmont over the age of 70 was 22%, compared with 26% of nonparticipants. When SSM St. Mary’s Medical Center in St. Louis implemented BOOST at its 33-bed hospitalist unit, 30-day readmissions dropped to 7% from 12% within three months.

Patient satisfaction rates also increased markedly, to 68% from 52%. And in 2009, the University of Pennsylvania Health System awarded its annual Operational Quality and Safety Award to the Project BOOST implementation team at the hospital.

BOOST’s Reach Expands

Project BOOST leaders are planning an aggressive expansion in the near future. In addition to the potential for new program sites, SHM has made materials available to hospitalists through the Project BOOST Resource Room at SHM’s newly redesigned Web site (see “The New Face of HospitalMedicine.org,” p. 12), www.hospitalmedicine.org/boost.

In addition to free resources, new BOOST materials are for sale through SHM’s online store. The Project BOOST Implementation Guide—available electronically for free through the resource room—is now available for sale as a hard copy. The online store also features a new Project BOOST instructional DVD for hospitalists, “Using Teach Back to Improve Communication with Patients.” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Rehospitalizations among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14): 1418-1428.

Thousands of Michigan residents will have a better chance of avoiding readmission to the hospital thanks to a groundbreaking new collaboration between three of the state’s healthcare leaders.

Based on SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) model, the collaborative program will be managed by the University of Michigan in collaboration with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Michigan Blues provide and administer health benefits to 4.7 million Michigan residents.

Project BOOST helps hospitals reduce readmission rates by providing them with proven resources and expert mentoring to optimize the discharge transition process, enhance patient and family education practices, and improve the flow of information between inpatient and outpatient providers. Project BOOST was developed through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Earlier in the year, the program recruited 15 Michigan sites to participate. Training begins in May.

Each improvement team will be assigned a mentor to coach them through the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating Project BOOST at their site. Program participants will receive face-to-face training, monthly coaching sessions with their mentors, and a comprehensive toolkit to implement Project BOOST. Sites also participate in an online peer learning and collaboration network.

“This kind of innovative, targeted program benefits both the patient and the healthcare provider by establishing better communication between all parties,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, associate professor and director of hospital medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and SHM president.

To Flanders, it’s no coincidence that hospitalists are taking the lead in improving hospital discharges. “Readmissions are a pervasive but preventable problem,” he says. “Hospitalists are uniquely positioned to provide leadership within the hospital, to promote positive, system-based changes that improve patient satisfaction, and promote collaboration between hospitalists and primary-care physicians.”

In addition to being preventable, readmissions are costly, draining the resources, time, and energy of the patient, PCPs, and hospitals. Research in the April 2009 New England Journal of Medicine indicates that 20% of hospitalized patients are readmitted to the hospital within a month of their discharge.1 Nationally, readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion each year.1

Collaborative Partnerships

Prior to the program’s launch in Michigan, SHM recruited and mentored Project BOOST sites independently. However, like many productive relationships in a hospital, Project BOOST in Michigan depends on collaboration between experts.

 

“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is confident that this project, like our other Value Partnership programs that focus on robust, statewide, data-driven quality-improvement (QI) partnerships, will have a positive impact on thousands of Michigan lives,” says David Share, MD, MPH, BCBS Michigan’s senior associate medical director of Healthcare Quality. “We look forward to helping hospitals, physicians, and patients work together to assure smooth transitions between inpatient and outpatient care, and to reduce readmissions and improve the patient experience.”

For University of Michigan hospitalist Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, FHM, Project BOOST is a chance to work with a diverse set of groups. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with not just Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, but also with the other physician organizations across our state to implement and share best-practice ideas in transitions of care,” says Kim, director of the statewide collaborative program on transitions of care.

Results and Reports

Having launched six pilot sites just two years ago, adding 24 additional sites in 2009, Project BOOST is still a relatively young QI program, which makes reliable quantitative data about its effectiveness tough to come by. The expansion into Michigan gives SHM and others the prospect of programwide measurement of how Project BOOST affects discharge and reduces readmissions.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to improve patient safety, reduce readmissions, and study the impact of Project BOOST interventions through patient-level data,” says Mark Williams, MD, FHM, Journal of Hospital Medicine editor, principal investigator for Project BOOST, and former SHM president. “We’re thrilled to be working with the state’s healthcare leaders to implement this critical program.”

Nonetheless, in the absence of comprehensive data, the early reports from Project BOOST sites are promising. At Piedmont Hospital in the Atlanta area, the rate of readmission among patients under the age of 70 participating in BOOST is 8.5%, compared with 25.5% among nonparticipants. The readmission rate among BOOST participants at Piedmont over the age of 70 was 22%, compared with 26% of nonparticipants. When SSM St. Mary’s Medical Center in St. Louis implemented BOOST at its 33-bed hospitalist unit, 30-day readmissions dropped to 7% from 12% within three months.

Patient satisfaction rates also increased markedly, to 68% from 52%. And in 2009, the University of Pennsylvania Health System awarded its annual Operational Quality and Safety Award to the Project BOOST implementation team at the hospital.

BOOST’s Reach Expands

Project BOOST leaders are planning an aggressive expansion in the near future. In addition to the potential for new program sites, SHM has made materials available to hospitalists through the Project BOOST Resource Room at SHM’s newly redesigned Web site (see “The New Face of HospitalMedicine.org,” p. 12), www.hospitalmedicine.org/boost.

In addition to free resources, new BOOST materials are for sale through SHM’s online store. The Project BOOST Implementation Guide—available electronically for free through the resource room—is now available for sale as a hard copy. The online store also features a new Project BOOST instructional DVD for hospitalists, “Using Teach Back to Improve Communication with Patients.” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Rehospitalizations among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14): 1418-1428.

Thousands of Michigan residents will have a better chance of avoiding readmission to the hospital thanks to a groundbreaking new collaboration between three of the state’s healthcare leaders.

Based on SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) model, the collaborative program will be managed by the University of Michigan in collaboration with Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. The Michigan Blues provide and administer health benefits to 4.7 million Michigan residents.

Project BOOST helps hospitals reduce readmission rates by providing them with proven resources and expert mentoring to optimize the discharge transition process, enhance patient and family education practices, and improve the flow of information between inpatient and outpatient providers. Project BOOST was developed through a grant from the John A. Hartford Foundation. Earlier in the year, the program recruited 15 Michigan sites to participate. Training begins in May.

Each improvement team will be assigned a mentor to coach them through the process of planning, implementing, and evaluating Project BOOST at their site. Program participants will receive face-to-face training, monthly coaching sessions with their mentors, and a comprehensive toolkit to implement Project BOOST. Sites also participate in an online peer learning and collaboration network.

“This kind of innovative, targeted program benefits both the patient and the healthcare provider by establishing better communication between all parties,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, associate professor and director of hospital medicine at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, and SHM president.

To Flanders, it’s no coincidence that hospitalists are taking the lead in improving hospital discharges. “Readmissions are a pervasive but preventable problem,” he says. “Hospitalists are uniquely positioned to provide leadership within the hospital, to promote positive, system-based changes that improve patient satisfaction, and promote collaboration between hospitalists and primary-care physicians.”

In addition to being preventable, readmissions are costly, draining the resources, time, and energy of the patient, PCPs, and hospitals. Research in the April 2009 New England Journal of Medicine indicates that 20% of hospitalized patients are readmitted to the hospital within a month of their discharge.1 Nationally, readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion each year.1

Collaborative Partnerships

Prior to the program’s launch in Michigan, SHM recruited and mentored Project BOOST sites independently. However, like many productive relationships in a hospital, Project BOOST in Michigan depends on collaboration between experts.

 

“Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is confident that this project, like our other Value Partnership programs that focus on robust, statewide, data-driven quality-improvement (QI) partnerships, will have a positive impact on thousands of Michigan lives,” says David Share, MD, MPH, BCBS Michigan’s senior associate medical director of Healthcare Quality. “We look forward to helping hospitals, physicians, and patients work together to assure smooth transitions between inpatient and outpatient care, and to reduce readmissions and improve the patient experience.”

For University of Michigan hospitalist Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, FHM, Project BOOST is a chance to work with a diverse set of groups. “We are grateful for the opportunity to work with not just Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, but also with the other physician organizations across our state to implement and share best-practice ideas in transitions of care,” says Kim, director of the statewide collaborative program on transitions of care.

Results and Reports

Having launched six pilot sites just two years ago, adding 24 additional sites in 2009, Project BOOST is still a relatively young QI program, which makes reliable quantitative data about its effectiveness tough to come by. The expansion into Michigan gives SHM and others the prospect of programwide measurement of how Project BOOST affects discharge and reduces readmissions.

“This is a tremendous opportunity to improve patient safety, reduce readmissions, and study the impact of Project BOOST interventions through patient-level data,” says Mark Williams, MD, FHM, Journal of Hospital Medicine editor, principal investigator for Project BOOST, and former SHM president. “We’re thrilled to be working with the state’s healthcare leaders to implement this critical program.”

Nonetheless, in the absence of comprehensive data, the early reports from Project BOOST sites are promising. At Piedmont Hospital in the Atlanta area, the rate of readmission among patients under the age of 70 participating in BOOST is 8.5%, compared with 25.5% among nonparticipants. The readmission rate among BOOST participants at Piedmont over the age of 70 was 22%, compared with 26% of nonparticipants. When SSM St. Mary’s Medical Center in St. Louis implemented BOOST at its 33-bed hospitalist unit, 30-day readmissions dropped to 7% from 12% within three months.

Patient satisfaction rates also increased markedly, to 68% from 52%. And in 2009, the University of Pennsylvania Health System awarded its annual Operational Quality and Safety Award to the Project BOOST implementation team at the hospital.

BOOST’s Reach Expands

Project BOOST leaders are planning an aggressive expansion in the near future. In addition to the potential for new program sites, SHM has made materials available to hospitalists through the Project BOOST Resource Room at SHM’s newly redesigned Web site (see “The New Face of HospitalMedicine.org,” p. 12), www.hospitalmedicine.org/boost.

In addition to free resources, new BOOST materials are for sale through SHM’s online store. The Project BOOST Implementation Guide—available electronically for free through the resource room—is now available for sale as a hard copy. The online store also features a new Project BOOST instructional DVD for hospitalists, “Using Teach Back to Improve Communication with Patients.” TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Rehospitalizations among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14): 1418-1428.

Like so many things in HM, the story of how hospitalists first learned about the focused practice program is a modern one.

It started with a text message, which led to a blog post, which reached thousands of readers, many of them hospitalists interested in how to bolster their bona fides in a specialty known for its explosive growth in recent years.

Now, hospitalists certified in internal medicine have the opportunity to reinforce their commitment to the specialty by maintaining their certification through the Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine pathway offered by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (FPHM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program enables hospitalists to distinguish their practice within the larger specialty of internal medicine.

The Evolution of FPHM

The new pathway has been years in the making, and it reflects the growing influence of HM in healthcare, according to ABIM Chief Medical Officer Eric Holmboe, MD. He sees the FPHM as the result of a combination of factors, including the fact that the specialty now has more than 30,000 hospitalists practicing nationwide. “If you look at the past years, this has been a viable and vibrant practice,” he says. “If you look at the number of people doing hospital medicine, it’s a factor.”

For Holmboe, it also is a shift in how individuals are recognized based on their practice areas. “This is an acknowledgement by ABIM and the American Board of Medical Specialties to look at Maintenance of Certification in terms of what the individual actually does,” he explains. “Hospitalists play a very important role in the hospital.”

He also credits the leadership of the HM movement—especially pioneers like Robert Wachter, MD, FHM. One of HM’s most ardent champions, Dr. Wachter, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, worked with ABIM to find a way to recognize hospitalists’ specialized skill sets and their commitment to inpatient medicine. After more than a decade of advocating for a board-certified process to recognize the field, Dr. Wachter, an ABIM board member, began receiving multiple text messages from colleagues announcing that ABIM had approved the focused-practice program. He wrote a post on his blog, Wachter’s World (www.wachtersworld.com), that outlined the need for the FPHM and the significance for aspiring hospitalists.

“In any case, this is an important milestone for the field,” Dr. Wachter wrote in his Sept. 23, 2009, blog entry, “Board Certification for Hospitalists: It’s Heeeere!” “In fact, when I first began speaking to groups of hospitalists nearly 15 years ago, I often showed a slide listing the elements of a true specialty, and one by one we’ve ticked them off,” wrote Dr. Wachter, a former SHM president. “The only unchecked box was recognition of the field as a legitimate ‘specialty,’ as codified by the ABMS board certification process.”

 

Unchecked, that is, until now.

In early 2011, the medical world will be introduced to the first internists recognized for their focus in HM. For Holmboe, the FPHM is the beginning of an even larger movement.

“The goal is continued interest: getting people involved in quality in their hospital and encouraging people to change behaviors and be recognized by patients and credentialists as valuable,” he says. “That’s the primary mission of ABIM: using certification to improve care.”

Requirements and Process

Shortly after the program’s approval, ABIM, which administers the FPHM program, went to work in defining the process for the FPHM application and building infrastructure to support the tests. Holmboe expects ABIM will be ready to process pre-applications by April or May. While some details may change, the FPHM application will dovetail with ABIM’s MOC process.

Although hospitalists’ MOC must be current in order to apply for FPHM, hospitalists can begin the FPHM application process at any time. Hospitalists do not need to wait until their next MOC renewal.

Before beginning the application process, hospitalists should ensure that they are eligible. ABIM requires FPHM candidates to have:

• A current or previous ABIM certification in internal medicine;
• A valid, unrestricted medical license and confirmation of good standing in the local practice community;
• ACLS certification; and
• At least three years of hospital medicine practice experience.

Candidates who meet the requirements can then begin the enrollment process by:

1. Submitting attestations. Both the hospitalist and a senior officer at the hospital must provide attestations that demonstrate the hospitalist’s experience in HM and his or her commitment to the principles of the specialty.
2. Performing a self-assessment. Hospitalists must quantify their experience in HM through an MOC self-assessment. Candidates must achieve at least 100 MOC points. Successful applicants must submit a new self-assessment every three years. The self-assessment can be conducted before or after the exam.
3. Taking the MOC examination in Hospital Medicine. Registration for the first HM examination will begin in May. The exam will be conducted in October, and diplomates can take the exam at any time in the process.

Passing the exam and completing the other requirements will earn ABIM diplomats recognition as “Board Certified in Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine.” ABIM will notify successful applicants in late 2010 and ship personalized certificates in early 2011. TH

 

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Like so many things in HM, the story of how hospitalists first learned about the focused practice program is a modern one.

It started with a text message, which led to a blog post, which reached thousands of readers, many of them hospitalists interested in how to bolster their bona fides in a specialty known for its explosive growth in recent years.

Now, hospitalists certified in internal medicine have the opportunity to reinforce their commitment to the specialty by maintaining their certification through the Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine pathway offered by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (FPHM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program enables hospitalists to distinguish their practice within the larger specialty of internal medicine.

The Evolution of FPHM

The new pathway has been years in the making, and it reflects the growing influence of HM in healthcare, according to ABIM Chief Medical Officer Eric Holmboe, MD. He sees the FPHM as the result of a combination of factors, including the fact that the specialty now has more than 30,000 hospitalists practicing nationwide. “If you look at the past years, this has been a viable and vibrant practice,” he says. “If you look at the number of people doing hospital medicine, it’s a factor.”

For Holmboe, it also is a shift in how individuals are recognized based on their practice areas. “This is an acknowledgement by ABIM and the American Board of Medical Specialties to look at Maintenance of Certification in terms of what the individual actually does,” he explains. “Hospitalists play a very important role in the hospital.”

He also credits the leadership of the HM movement—especially pioneers like Robert Wachter, MD, FHM. One of HM’s most ardent champions, Dr. Wachter, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, worked with ABIM to find a way to recognize hospitalists’ specialized skill sets and their commitment to inpatient medicine. After more than a decade of advocating for a board-certified process to recognize the field, Dr. Wachter, an ABIM board member, began receiving multiple text messages from colleagues announcing that ABIM had approved the focused-practice program. He wrote a post on his blog, Wachter’s World (www.wachtersworld.com), that outlined the need for the FPHM and the significance for aspiring hospitalists.

“In any case, this is an important milestone for the field,” Dr. Wachter wrote in his Sept. 23, 2009, blog entry, “Board Certification for Hospitalists: It’s Heeeere!” “In fact, when I first began speaking to groups of hospitalists nearly 15 years ago, I often showed a slide listing the elements of a true specialty, and one by one we’ve ticked them off,” wrote Dr. Wachter, a former SHM president. “The only unchecked box was recognition of the field as a legitimate ‘specialty,’ as codified by the ABMS board certification process.”

 

Unchecked, that is, until now.

In early 2011, the medical world will be introduced to the first internists recognized for their focus in HM. For Holmboe, the FPHM is the beginning of an even larger movement.

“The goal is continued interest: getting people involved in quality in their hospital and encouraging people to change behaviors and be recognized by patients and credentialists as valuable,” he says. “That’s the primary mission of ABIM: using certification to improve care.”

Requirements and Process

Shortly after the program’s approval, ABIM, which administers the FPHM program, went to work in defining the process for the FPHM application and building infrastructure to support the tests. Holmboe expects ABIM will be ready to process pre-applications by April or May. While some details may change, the FPHM application will dovetail with ABIM’s MOC process.

Although hospitalists’ MOC must be current in order to apply for FPHM, hospitalists can begin the FPHM application process at any time. Hospitalists do not need to wait until their next MOC renewal.

Before beginning the application process, hospitalists should ensure that they are eligible. ABIM requires FPHM candidates to have:

• A current or previous ABIM certification in internal medicine;
• A valid, unrestricted medical license and confirmation of good standing in the local practice community;
• ACLS certification; and
• At least three years of hospital medicine practice experience.

Candidates who meet the requirements can then begin the enrollment process by:

1. Submitting attestations. Both the hospitalist and a senior officer at the hospital must provide attestations that demonstrate the hospitalist’s experience in HM and his or her commitment to the principles of the specialty.
2. Performing a self-assessment. Hospitalists must quantify their experience in HM through an MOC self-assessment. Candidates must achieve at least 100 MOC points. Successful applicants must submit a new self-assessment every three years. The self-assessment can be conducted before or after the exam.
3. Taking the MOC examination in Hospital Medicine. Registration for the first HM examination will begin in May. The exam will be conducted in October, and diplomates can take the exam at any time in the process.

Passing the exam and completing the other requirements will earn ABIM diplomats recognition as “Board Certified in Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine.” ABIM will notify successful applicants in late 2010 and ship personalized certificates in early 2011. TH

 

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Like so many things in HM, the story of how hospitalists first learned about the focused practice program is a modern one.

It started with a text message, which led to a blog post, which reached thousands of readers, many of them hospitalists interested in how to bolster their bona fides in a specialty known for its explosive growth in recent years.

Now, hospitalists certified in internal medicine have the opportunity to reinforce their commitment to the specialty by maintaining their certification through the Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine pathway offered by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM). The Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine (FPHM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program enables hospitalists to distinguish their practice within the larger specialty of internal medicine.

The Evolution of FPHM

The new pathway has been years in the making, and it reflects the growing influence of HM in healthcare, according to ABIM Chief Medical Officer Eric Holmboe, MD. He sees the FPHM as the result of a combination of factors, including the fact that the specialty now has more than 30,000 hospitalists practicing nationwide. “If you look at the past years, this has been a viable and vibrant practice,” he says. “If you look at the number of people doing hospital medicine, it’s a factor.”

For Holmboe, it also is a shift in how individuals are recognized based on their practice areas. “This is an acknowledgement by ABIM and the American Board of Medical Specialties to look at Maintenance of Certification in terms of what the individual actually does,” he explains. “Hospitalists play a very important role in the hospital.”

He also credits the leadership of the HM movement—especially pioneers like Robert Wachter, MD, FHM. One of HM’s most ardent champions, Dr. Wachter, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, worked with ABIM to find a way to recognize hospitalists’ specialized skill sets and their commitment to inpatient medicine. After more than a decade of advocating for a board-certified process to recognize the field, Dr. Wachter, an ABIM board member, began receiving multiple text messages from colleagues announcing that ABIM had approved the focused-practice program. He wrote a post on his blog, Wachter’s World (www.wachtersworld.com), that outlined the need for the FPHM and the significance for aspiring hospitalists.

“In any case, this is an important milestone for the field,” Dr. Wachter wrote in his Sept. 23, 2009, blog entry, “Board Certification for Hospitalists: It’s Heeeere!” “In fact, when I first began speaking to groups of hospitalists nearly 15 years ago, I often showed a slide listing the elements of a true specialty, and one by one we’ve ticked them off,” wrote Dr. Wachter, a former SHM president. “The only unchecked box was recognition of the field as a legitimate ‘specialty,’ as codified by the ABMS board certification process.”

 

Unchecked, that is, until now.

In early 2011, the medical world will be introduced to the first internists recognized for their focus in HM. For Holmboe, the FPHM is the beginning of an even larger movement.

“The goal is continued interest: getting people involved in quality in their hospital and encouraging people to change behaviors and be recognized by patients and credentialists as valuable,” he says. “That’s the primary mission of ABIM: using certification to improve care.”

Requirements and Process

Shortly after the program’s approval, ABIM, which administers the FPHM program, went to work in defining the process for the FPHM application and building infrastructure to support the tests. Holmboe expects ABIM will be ready to process pre-applications by April or May. While some details may change, the FPHM application will dovetail with ABIM’s MOC process.

Although hospitalists’ MOC must be current in order to apply for FPHM, hospitalists can begin the FPHM application process at any time. Hospitalists do not need to wait until their next MOC renewal.

Before beginning the application process, hospitalists should ensure that they are eligible. ABIM requires FPHM candidates to have:

• A current or previous ABIM certification in internal medicine;
• A valid, unrestricted medical license and confirmation of good standing in the local practice community;
• ACLS certification; and
• At least three years of hospital medicine practice experience.

Candidates who meet the requirements can then begin the enrollment process by:

1. Submitting attestations. Both the hospitalist and a senior officer at the hospital must provide attestations that demonstrate the hospitalist’s experience in HM and his or her commitment to the principles of the specialty.
2. Performing a self-assessment. Hospitalists must quantify their experience in HM through an MOC self-assessment. Candidates must achieve at least 100 MOC points. Successful applicants must submit a new self-assessment every three years. The self-assessment can be conducted before or after the exam.
3. Taking the MOC examination in Hospital Medicine. Registration for the first HM examination will begin in May. The exam will be conducted in October, and diplomates can take the exam at any time in the process.

Passing the exam and completing the other requirements will earn ABIM diplomats recognition as “Board Certified in Internal Medicine with a Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine.” ABIM will notify successful applicants in late 2010 and ship personalized certificates in early 2011. TH

 

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Hospital Medicine 2010—HM10, in hospitalist parlance—is coming soon. SHM’s annual meeting continues to exceed expectations for educational content, networking opportunities, professional advancement, and fun.

HM10, which runs April 8-11, has an additional attraction this year: With the conference center just miles from Washington, D.C., HM10 will bring hospitalists closer than ever to the heart of the continued national debate over healthcare reform and delivery. Between now and then, the details of healthcare policy will no doubt change, but the intensity and impact of the decisions made in our nation’s capital are unlikely to fade.

“Washington, D.C., is always an exciting place to visit, but it’s even more attractive now for hospitalists and others involved in healthcare,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director for education and meetings. “The discussions happening in Washington now are likely to affect every corner of the healthcare sector.”

As in years past, HM10 offerings will be wide-ranging enough to include topics that will satisfy physicians, nonphysician practitioners (NPPs), and HM administrators alike.

Registration for HM09 sold out in advance—an additional incentive for early HM10 registration.

“Last year’s conference set new records and generated real excitement within the specialty,” Barnes says. “We’re confident that the program we’ve created for 2010 will do it again.”

Featured Speakers: The Stars of Hospital Care

This year’s featured presenters represent a mix of fresh, outside perspectives and familiar favorites.

Kicking off the formal agenda will be Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a 621-bed academic hospital center in Boston. In 2009, it was one of three American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize honorees for its efforts in eliminating preventable harm.

Dr. Whelan

Levy says he expects to expound on the patient-safety theme during his HM10 presentation. He’ll speak about his center’s “journey in preventable harm—what we’ve learned, ideas for the future, the role of transparency, and the different approaches to process improvement,” he says. Check out his blog at http://runningahospital.blogspot.com.

To wrap up the conference, HM pioneer Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World (www.wachters world.com), will bring his perspective on HM and healthcare reform in a presentation called “How Health Care Reform Changes the Hospitalist Field . . . And Vice Versa.”

More Pre-Courses

In response to increased demand for educational content, HM10 will offer the most pre-courses ever. The pre-courses emphasize a hands-on approach to professional development. This year’s eight pre-courses—two more than last year—will run concurrently all day April 8. “Hospitalists are always looking for ways to enhance their knowledge of the specialty and sharpen their skills,” Barnes says. “The new pre-courses at HM10 were added specifically because of demand from hospitalists.”

The two new additions represent the changing needs within HM. The “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist” pre-course, taught by David Likosky, MD, FHM, a hospitalist at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash., recognizes hospitalists often serve as the primary health providers for hospitalized patients with neurological disorders. The pre-course will cover the basics of neurological exams, diagnosis, and management of many of the conditions hospitalists encounter on a regular basis.

 

The second new pre-course addresses some of the daunting challenges that new hospitalists face. “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” led by Efren Manjarrez, MD, FHM, of the University of Miami School of Medicine, will lead new hospitalists through such day-to-day issues as communicating with patients and families, coding, quality improvement (QI) efforts, and legal considerations in their practice.

Although the pre-course on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) isn’t new, it will include new information about the process for applying to ABIM’s new Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine program.

Inaugural Year for Senior Fellows

SHM’s Fellows in Hospital Medicine Program will take center stage again, as the society welcomes the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and the second class of Fellows in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Now in its second year, the fellows program recognizes hospitalists for their commitment to excellence.

At HM09, SHM inducted more than 500 hospitalists as fellows. Candidates must have at least five years’ experience as a hospitalist and demonstrate their work in QI, teamwork, and leadership. This year, SHM expects to induct even more fellows.

The requirements for the SHFM are similar to those of the FHM program but demand more experience in each category. Hospitalists applying for SFHM also must be an SHM member in good standing for at least five years.

New Educational Options: Breakout Sessions and RIV Competition

The HM10 educational program features new breakout sessions and the annual Research, Innovations, and Clinical Vignettes (RIV) competition. The new tracks include:

• Academic;
• Clinical 1;
• Clinical 2;
• Evidence-Based Rapid Fire;
• Palliative Care;
• Pediatric;
• Practice Management;
• Quality;
• Research; and
• Workshops (educational format for the annual conference).

Hundreds of hospitalists will submit abstracts for the RIV competition. Of those, dozens will be chosen for the HM10 poster session; a panel of experts will judge the entries on Saturday, April 10. The winners will be announced at the conference and claim a $250 cash prize.

High-Visibility Exhibits

HM’s growth has spurred a burgeoning industry of products and service providers that help hospitalists do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. HM10 brings the best of the industry directly to hospitalists, and this year, SHM is making it easier than ever for hospitalists to find the experts on the exhibit floor. For the first time, HM10’s agenda includes time to allow attendees to browse the exhibit hall without competing workshops or plenary sessions. Plus, attendees will win prizes for visiting exhibit booths.

 

“HM10 is all about bringing the leaders in hospital medicine together. That includes the leaders in organizations that support hospital medicine,” says Todd Von Deak, vice president of membership and marketing for SHM. “Just like other parts of HM10, innovation and synergy happen on the exhibition floor.”

Bring the Family

Washington, D.C., is a prime destination for vacationers from around the world, and SHM has organized tours for families and spouses of hospitalists at HM10. Each tour departs directly from the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center and takes participants to some of the most famous attractions in the nation’s capital.

Never been to Washington? Then start with the all-day DC IT ALL! Tour, which takes visitors on a guided bus tour to many major monuments, museums, and other city sights.

For those more familiar with Washington, tours of the National Air & Space Museum, a Segway tour of Old Town Alexandria, Va., and George Washington’s Mount Vernon via water cruise are also scheduled.

For more information, visit the “Family Activities” section of the HM10 Web site. To register for a tour, call SHM at 800-843-3360. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Update

Piedmont Chapter

The Primary Piedmont chapter meeting was held at Dressler’s restaurant in Birkdale Village, Huntersville, N.C., on Nov. 2, 2009. Stephanie Sneed of Ingenious Med spoke about effective charge capture and revenue generation. There were six hospitalists in attendance.

 

 

Hospital Medicine 2010—HM10, in hospitalist parlance—is coming soon. SHM’s annual meeting continues to exceed expectations for educational content, networking opportunities, professional advancement, and fun.

HM10, which runs April 8-11, has an additional attraction this year: With the conference center just miles from Washington, D.C., HM10 will bring hospitalists closer than ever to the heart of the continued national debate over healthcare reform and delivery. Between now and then, the details of healthcare policy will no doubt change, but the intensity and impact of the decisions made in our nation’s capital are unlikely to fade.

“Washington, D.C., is always an exciting place to visit, but it’s even more attractive now for hospitalists and others involved in healthcare,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director for education and meetings. “The discussions happening in Washington now are likely to affect every corner of the healthcare sector.”

As in years past, HM10 offerings will be wide-ranging enough to include topics that will satisfy physicians, nonphysician practitioners (NPPs), and HM administrators alike.

Registration for HM09 sold out in advance—an additional incentive for early HM10 registration.

“Last year’s conference set new records and generated real excitement within the specialty,” Barnes says. “We’re confident that the program we’ve created for 2010 will do it again.”

Featured Speakers: The Stars of Hospital Care

This year’s featured presenters represent a mix of fresh, outside perspectives and familiar favorites.

Kicking off the formal agenda will be Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a 621-bed academic hospital center in Boston. In 2009, it was one of three American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize honorees for its efforts in eliminating preventable harm.

Dr. Whelan

Levy says he expects to expound on the patient-safety theme during his HM10 presentation. He’ll speak about his center’s “journey in preventable harm—what we’ve learned, ideas for the future, the role of transparency, and the different approaches to process improvement,” he says. Check out his blog at http://runningahospital.blogspot.com.

To wrap up the conference, HM pioneer Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World (www.wachters world.com), will bring his perspective on HM and healthcare reform in a presentation called “How Health Care Reform Changes the Hospitalist Field . . . And Vice Versa.”

More Pre-Courses

In response to increased demand for educational content, HM10 will offer the most pre-courses ever. The pre-courses emphasize a hands-on approach to professional development. This year’s eight pre-courses—two more than last year—will run concurrently all day April 8. “Hospitalists are always looking for ways to enhance their knowledge of the specialty and sharpen their skills,” Barnes says. “The new pre-courses at HM10 were added specifically because of demand from hospitalists.”

The two new additions represent the changing needs within HM. The “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist” pre-course, taught by David Likosky, MD, FHM, a hospitalist at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash., recognizes hospitalists often serve as the primary health providers for hospitalized patients with neurological disorders. The pre-course will cover the basics of neurological exams, diagnosis, and management of many of the conditions hospitalists encounter on a regular basis.

 

The second new pre-course addresses some of the daunting challenges that new hospitalists face. “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” led by Efren Manjarrez, MD, FHM, of the University of Miami School of Medicine, will lead new hospitalists through such day-to-day issues as communicating with patients and families, coding, quality improvement (QI) efforts, and legal considerations in their practice.

Although the pre-course on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) isn’t new, it will include new information about the process for applying to ABIM’s new Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine program.

Inaugural Year for Senior Fellows

SHM’s Fellows in Hospital Medicine Program will take center stage again, as the society welcomes the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and the second class of Fellows in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Now in its second year, the fellows program recognizes hospitalists for their commitment to excellence.

At HM09, SHM inducted more than 500 hospitalists as fellows. Candidates must have at least five years’ experience as a hospitalist and demonstrate their work in QI, teamwork, and leadership. This year, SHM expects to induct even more fellows.

The requirements for the SHFM are similar to those of the FHM program but demand more experience in each category. Hospitalists applying for SFHM also must be an SHM member in good standing for at least five years.

New Educational Options: Breakout Sessions and RIV Competition

The HM10 educational program features new breakout sessions and the annual Research, Innovations, and Clinical Vignettes (RIV) competition. The new tracks include:

• Academic;
• Clinical 1;
• Clinical 2;
• Evidence-Based Rapid Fire;
• Palliative Care;
• Pediatric;
• Practice Management;
• Quality;
• Research; and
• Workshops (educational format for the annual conference).

Hundreds of hospitalists will submit abstracts for the RIV competition. Of those, dozens will be chosen for the HM10 poster session; a panel of experts will judge the entries on Saturday, April 10. The winners will be announced at the conference and claim a $250 cash prize.

High-Visibility Exhibits

HM’s growth has spurred a burgeoning industry of products and service providers that help hospitalists do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. HM10 brings the best of the industry directly to hospitalists, and this year, SHM is making it easier than ever for hospitalists to find the experts on the exhibit floor. For the first time, HM10’s agenda includes time to allow attendees to browse the exhibit hall without competing workshops or plenary sessions. Plus, attendees will win prizes for visiting exhibit booths.

 

“HM10 is all about bringing the leaders in hospital medicine together. That includes the leaders in organizations that support hospital medicine,” says Todd Von Deak, vice president of membership and marketing for SHM. “Just like other parts of HM10, innovation and synergy happen on the exhibition floor.”

Bring the Family

Washington, D.C., is a prime destination for vacationers from around the world, and SHM has organized tours for families and spouses of hospitalists at HM10. Each tour departs directly from the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center and takes participants to some of the most famous attractions in the nation’s capital.

Never been to Washington? Then start with the all-day DC IT ALL! Tour, which takes visitors on a guided bus tour to many major monuments, museums, and other city sights.

For those more familiar with Washington, tours of the National Air & Space Museum, a Segway tour of Old Town Alexandria, Va., and George Washington’s Mount Vernon via water cruise are also scheduled.

For more information, visit the “Family Activities” section of the HM10 Web site. To register for a tour, call SHM at 800-843-3360. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Update

Piedmont Chapter

The Primary Piedmont chapter meeting was held at Dressler’s restaurant in Birkdale Village, Huntersville, N.C., on Nov. 2, 2009. Stephanie Sneed of Ingenious Med spoke about effective charge capture and revenue generation. There were six hospitalists in attendance.

 

 

Hospital Medicine 2010—HM10, in hospitalist parlance—is coming soon. SHM’s annual meeting continues to exceed expectations for educational content, networking opportunities, professional advancement, and fun.

HM10, which runs April 8-11, has an additional attraction this year: With the conference center just miles from Washington, D.C., HM10 will bring hospitalists closer than ever to the heart of the continued national debate over healthcare reform and delivery. Between now and then, the details of healthcare policy will no doubt change, but the intensity and impact of the decisions made in our nation’s capital are unlikely to fade.

“Washington, D.C., is always an exciting place to visit, but it’s even more attractive now for hospitalists and others involved in healthcare,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director for education and meetings. “The discussions happening in Washington now are likely to affect every corner of the healthcare sector.”

As in years past, HM10 offerings will be wide-ranging enough to include topics that will satisfy physicians, nonphysician practitioners (NPPs), and HM administrators alike.

Registration for HM09 sold out in advance—an additional incentive for early HM10 registration.

“Last year’s conference set new records and generated real excitement within the specialty,” Barnes says. “We’re confident that the program we’ve created for 2010 will do it again.”

Featured Speakers: The Stars of Hospital Care

This year’s featured presenters represent a mix of fresh, outside perspectives and familiar favorites.

Kicking off the formal agenda will be Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a 621-bed academic hospital center in Boston. In 2009, it was one of three American Hospital Association McKesson Quest for Quality Prize honorees for its efforts in eliminating preventable harm.

Dr. Whelan

Levy says he expects to expound on the patient-safety theme during his HM10 presentation. He’ll speak about his center’s “journey in preventable harm—what we’ve learned, ideas for the future, the role of transparency, and the different approaches to process improvement,” he says. Check out his blog at http://runningahospital.blogspot.com.

To wrap up the conference, HM pioneer Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World (www.wachters world.com), will bring his perspective on HM and healthcare reform in a presentation called “How Health Care Reform Changes the Hospitalist Field . . . And Vice Versa.”

More Pre-Courses

In response to increased demand for educational content, HM10 will offer the most pre-courses ever. The pre-courses emphasize a hands-on approach to professional development. This year’s eight pre-courses—two more than last year—will run concurrently all day April 8. “Hospitalists are always looking for ways to enhance their knowledge of the specialty and sharpen their skills,” Barnes says. “The new pre-courses at HM10 were added specifically because of demand from hospitalists.”

The two new additions represent the changing needs within HM. The “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist” pre-course, taught by David Likosky, MD, FHM, a hospitalist at Evergreen Hospital Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash., recognizes hospitalists often serve as the primary health providers for hospitalized patients with neurological disorders. The pre-course will cover the basics of neurological exams, diagnosis, and management of many of the conditions hospitalists encounter on a regular basis.

 

The second new pre-course addresses some of the daunting challenges that new hospitalists face. “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” led by Efren Manjarrez, MD, FHM, of the University of Miami School of Medicine, will lead new hospitalists through such day-to-day issues as communicating with patients and families, coding, quality improvement (QI) efforts, and legal considerations in their practice.

Although the pre-course on the American Board of Internal Medicine’s (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) isn’t new, it will include new information about the process for applying to ABIM’s new Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine program.

Inaugural Year for Senior Fellows

SHM’s Fellows in Hospital Medicine Program will take center stage again, as the society welcomes the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM) and the second class of Fellows in Hospital Medicine (FHM). Now in its second year, the fellows program recognizes hospitalists for their commitment to excellence.

At HM09, SHM inducted more than 500 hospitalists as fellows. Candidates must have at least five years’ experience as a hospitalist and demonstrate their work in QI, teamwork, and leadership. This year, SHM expects to induct even more fellows.

The requirements for the SHFM are similar to those of the FHM program but demand more experience in each category. Hospitalists applying for SFHM also must be an SHM member in good standing for at least five years.

New Educational Options: Breakout Sessions and RIV Competition

The HM10 educational program features new breakout sessions and the annual Research, Innovations, and Clinical Vignettes (RIV) competition. The new tracks include:

• Academic;
• Clinical 1;
• Clinical 2;
• Evidence-Based Rapid Fire;
• Palliative Care;
• Pediatric;
• Practice Management;
• Quality;
• Research; and
• Workshops (educational format for the annual conference).

Hundreds of hospitalists will submit abstracts for the RIV competition. Of those, dozens will be chosen for the HM10 poster session; a panel of experts will judge the entries on Saturday, April 10. The winners will be announced at the conference and claim a $250 cash prize.

High-Visibility Exhibits

HM’s growth has spurred a burgeoning industry of products and service providers that help hospitalists do their jobs more effectively and efficiently. HM10 brings the best of the industry directly to hospitalists, and this year, SHM is making it easier than ever for hospitalists to find the experts on the exhibit floor. For the first time, HM10’s agenda includes time to allow attendees to browse the exhibit hall without competing workshops or plenary sessions. Plus, attendees will win prizes for visiting exhibit booths.

 

“HM10 is all about bringing the leaders in hospital medicine together. That includes the leaders in organizations that support hospital medicine,” says Todd Von Deak, vice president of membership and marketing for SHM. “Just like other parts of HM10, innovation and synergy happen on the exhibition floor.”

Bring the Family

Washington, D.C., is a prime destination for vacationers from around the world, and SHM has organized tours for families and spouses of hospitalists at HM10. Each tour departs directly from the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center and takes participants to some of the most famous attractions in the nation’s capital.

Never been to Washington? Then start with the all-day DC IT ALL! Tour, which takes visitors on a guided bus tour to many major monuments, museums, and other city sights.

For those more familiar with Washington, tours of the National Air & Space Museum, a Segway tour of Old Town Alexandria, Va., and George Washington’s Mount Vernon via water cruise are also scheduled.

For more information, visit the “Family Activities” section of the HM10 Web site. To register for a tour, call SHM at 800-843-3360. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Update

Piedmont Chapter

The Primary Piedmont chapter meeting was held at Dressler’s restaurant in Birkdale Village, Huntersville, N.C., on Nov. 2, 2009. Stephanie Sneed of Ingenious Med spoke about effective charge capture and revenue generation. There were six hospitalists in attendance.

 

 

For the ambitious hospitalist, 2010 will be an eventful year. The next 12 months will be filled with new and exciting opportunities to establish credentials in the specialty and to find venues for continuing education.

But the time to start is now.

The new Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine application process begins this month and, if last year is any indicator, SHM’s annual conference in April will sell out well in advance.

Begin the RFP Application Process

Don’t wait for HM10 to begin applying for the RFP in HM designation. American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)-certified diplomates don’t have to wait for their maintenance of certification (MOC) to expire in order to apply. Instead, typical hospitalists can begin the process if they:

• Have completed training in internal medicine;
• Are certified in internal medicine; and
• Have engaged for at least three years in a practice that focuses primarily on HM.

Hospitalists who satisfy those requirements can begin the process this month by developing and submitting attestations that demonstrate their focus on HM and their commitment to the specialty. The certification process requires that the hospitalist and a senior executive at his or her hospital each submit an attestation.

Once the attestations are submitted and accepted, ABIM will provide more information on the exam, which is scheduled for October. Registration for the exam will begin in May. Detailed information about the application process will be presented at the ABIM pre-course at HM10. For more information, visit www.abim.org.

Register for HM10

With an agenda packed with networking events, eight pre-courses and more than 90 educational sessions, Hospital Medicine 2010 in Washington, D.C., promises to be the event for hospitalists of all stripes. The conference begins with pre-courses on Thursday, April 8, and runs through Sunday, April 11.

This year’s pre-courses will cover a range of topics, from critical care to practice management and quality improvement (QI). New hospitalists can receive an introduction to the specialty at “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” while physicians certified by ABIM can participate in the interactive MOC learning sessions. The ABIM session will include information about the inaugural MOC through the RFP in HM.

 

SHM’s annual meeting kicks off on Friday, April 9, with featured speaker Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His presentation will focus on the role hospitalists will play in the hospital of the future.

On Sunday, HM thought-leader Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World, will share his thoughts about how healthcare reform will change HM, and vice versa.

Sandwiched in between will be sessions on every area of hospital medicine, including:

• Quality improvement;
• Hospitalist practice management;
• New research in HM;
• Clinical practice; and
• Pediatric HM.

For more information, visit the HM10 section of www.hospitalmedicine.org.

Apply for FHM, SFHM

The deadline for SHM Fellow applications is Jan. 15. This year, in addition to new fellows, the first class of senior fellows (SFHM) will be inducted at HM10.

More than 500 hospitalists were a part of the inaugural class of fellows introduced at HM09. Since then, the letters have begun to pop up everywhere. Hospitalists across the country are attaching “FHM” to their name and credentials for additional prestige and credibility among their peers.

Based on SHM’s Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine, the FHM and SFHM designations represent a hospitalist’s commitment to excellence, systems change, and QI. In addition to demonstrated experience in teamwork, leadership, and QI (scored on a point-based system), all qualified candidates must have:

• Five years completed as a practicing hospitalist;
• No disciplinary action that resulted in the suspension or revocation of credentials or license within five years; and
• Two SHM member endorsements.

Requirements for the SFHM designation are similar to that of FHM but require additional experience in leadership. In addition to using the SFHM designation, all fellows receive a personalized certificate from SHM, a listing on the SHM Web site, and a discount on SHM events and materials.

For more information, visit www. hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Get Involved in Advocacy

The future of healthcare delivery is being formed now. And it will change how every provider works.

Hospitalists will play a major role in healthcare reform, but it doesn’t end there. The extent of their impact will depend on their knowledge of the issues and their ability to reach out to members of Congress and others in government.

SHM’s Advocacy section at www.hospitalmedicine.org provides members all the information and resources to make a real difference, including:

• Resources from SHM, including position papers and public letters to government officials;
• Resources from other influential healthcare organizations;
• Monthly updates on legislation and other government activities that affect hospital medicine; and
• SHM’s Legislative Action Center.

For hospitalists new to public advocacy, SHM’s Legislative Action Center is a one-stop shop for learning more about the most pressing policy issues affecting HM. In less than 10 minutes, visitors can get up to speed on the issues and contact their members of Congress with a customizable e-mail or personal note. To get involved, visit www.hosp italmedicine.org/advocacy.

 

SHM Junior Faculty Development Award

For junior hospitalist faculty at academic hospital centers, making ends meet as you apply for such research grants as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services K Awards or the Veterans Administration’s Career Development Awards can be daunting or even prohibitive.

SHM is launching a program to assist two junior academic hospitalists: the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award. Two successful applicants will be awarded $25,000 a year for two years, and will receive mentoring from senior SHM faculty and the recipients’ host institutions.

To qualify, applicants must have an MD or a DO degree, have completed or be in the final year of a two- to three-year HM fellowship (or an equivalent post-residency program), and submit a research project proposal on a topic related to HM (e.g., QI, patient safety, or critical care). Full eligibility criteria are included in the request for application (RFA).

The program has two main goals: The new award aims to not only promote promising young academic hospitalists in a critical juncture of their careers, but it also aims to generate peer-reviewed research that will help all hospitalists to better practice in the specialty.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 15. Winners will be notified April 5.

For details about the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award, including the RFA, contact Claudia Stahl at [email protected]. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

For the ambitious hospitalist, 2010 will be an eventful year. The next 12 months will be filled with new and exciting opportunities to establish credentials in the specialty and to find venues for continuing education.

But the time to start is now.

The new Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine application process begins this month and, if last year is any indicator, SHM’s annual conference in April will sell out well in advance.

Begin the RFP Application Process

Don’t wait for HM10 to begin applying for the RFP in HM designation. American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)-certified diplomates don’t have to wait for their maintenance of certification (MOC) to expire in order to apply. Instead, typical hospitalists can begin the process if they:

• Have completed training in internal medicine;
• Are certified in internal medicine; and
• Have engaged for at least three years in a practice that focuses primarily on HM.

Hospitalists who satisfy those requirements can begin the process this month by developing and submitting attestations that demonstrate their focus on HM and their commitment to the specialty. The certification process requires that the hospitalist and a senior executive at his or her hospital each submit an attestation.

Once the attestations are submitted and accepted, ABIM will provide more information on the exam, which is scheduled for October. Registration for the exam will begin in May. Detailed information about the application process will be presented at the ABIM pre-course at HM10. For more information, visit www.abim.org.

Register for HM10

With an agenda packed with networking events, eight pre-courses and more than 90 educational sessions, Hospital Medicine 2010 in Washington, D.C., promises to be the event for hospitalists of all stripes. The conference begins with pre-courses on Thursday, April 8, and runs through Sunday, April 11.

This year’s pre-courses will cover a range of topics, from critical care to practice management and quality improvement (QI). New hospitalists can receive an introduction to the specialty at “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” while physicians certified by ABIM can participate in the interactive MOC learning sessions. The ABIM session will include information about the inaugural MOC through the RFP in HM.

 

SHM’s annual meeting kicks off on Friday, April 9, with featured speaker Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His presentation will focus on the role hospitalists will play in the hospital of the future.

On Sunday, HM thought-leader Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World, will share his thoughts about how healthcare reform will change HM, and vice versa.

Sandwiched in between will be sessions on every area of hospital medicine, including:

• Quality improvement;
• Hospitalist practice management;
• New research in HM;
• Clinical practice; and
• Pediatric HM.

For more information, visit the HM10 section of www.hospitalmedicine.org.

Apply for FHM, SFHM

The deadline for SHM Fellow applications is Jan. 15. This year, in addition to new fellows, the first class of senior fellows (SFHM) will be inducted at HM10.

More than 500 hospitalists were a part of the inaugural class of fellows introduced at HM09. Since then, the letters have begun to pop up everywhere. Hospitalists across the country are attaching “FHM” to their name and credentials for additional prestige and credibility among their peers.

Based on SHM’s Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine, the FHM and SFHM designations represent a hospitalist’s commitment to excellence, systems change, and QI. In addition to demonstrated experience in teamwork, leadership, and QI (scored on a point-based system), all qualified candidates must have:

• Five years completed as a practicing hospitalist;
• No disciplinary action that resulted in the suspension or revocation of credentials or license within five years; and
• Two SHM member endorsements.

Requirements for the SFHM designation are similar to that of FHM but require additional experience in leadership. In addition to using the SFHM designation, all fellows receive a personalized certificate from SHM, a listing on the SHM Web site, and a discount on SHM events and materials.

For more information, visit www. hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Get Involved in Advocacy

The future of healthcare delivery is being formed now. And it will change how every provider works.

Hospitalists will play a major role in healthcare reform, but it doesn’t end there. The extent of their impact will depend on their knowledge of the issues and their ability to reach out to members of Congress and others in government.

SHM’s Advocacy section at www.hospitalmedicine.org provides members all the information and resources to make a real difference, including:

• Resources from SHM, including position papers and public letters to government officials;
• Resources from other influential healthcare organizations;
• Monthly updates on legislation and other government activities that affect hospital medicine; and
• SHM’s Legislative Action Center.

For hospitalists new to public advocacy, SHM’s Legislative Action Center is a one-stop shop for learning more about the most pressing policy issues affecting HM. In less than 10 minutes, visitors can get up to speed on the issues and contact their members of Congress with a customizable e-mail or personal note. To get involved, visit www.hosp italmedicine.org/advocacy.

 

SHM Junior Faculty Development Award

For junior hospitalist faculty at academic hospital centers, making ends meet as you apply for such research grants as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services K Awards or the Veterans Administration’s Career Development Awards can be daunting or even prohibitive.

SHM is launching a program to assist two junior academic hospitalists: the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award. Two successful applicants will be awarded $25,000 a year for two years, and will receive mentoring from senior SHM faculty and the recipients’ host institutions.

To qualify, applicants must have an MD or a DO degree, have completed or be in the final year of a two- to three-year HM fellowship (or an equivalent post-residency program), and submit a research project proposal on a topic related to HM (e.g., QI, patient safety, or critical care). Full eligibility criteria are included in the request for application (RFA).

The program has two main goals: The new award aims to not only promote promising young academic hospitalists in a critical juncture of their careers, but it also aims to generate peer-reviewed research that will help all hospitalists to better practice in the specialty.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 15. Winners will be notified April 5.

For details about the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award, including the RFA, contact Claudia Stahl at [email protected]. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

For the ambitious hospitalist, 2010 will be an eventful year. The next 12 months will be filled with new and exciting opportunities to establish credentials in the specialty and to find venues for continuing education.

But the time to start is now.

The new Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine application process begins this month and, if last year is any indicator, SHM’s annual conference in April will sell out well in advance.

Begin the RFP Application Process

Don’t wait for HM10 to begin applying for the RFP in HM designation. American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM)-certified diplomates don’t have to wait for their maintenance of certification (MOC) to expire in order to apply. Instead, typical hospitalists can begin the process if they:

• Have completed training in internal medicine;
• Are certified in internal medicine; and
• Have engaged for at least three years in a practice that focuses primarily on HM.

Hospitalists who satisfy those requirements can begin the process this month by developing and submitting attestations that demonstrate their focus on HM and their commitment to the specialty. The certification process requires that the hospitalist and a senior executive at his or her hospital each submit an attestation.

Once the attestations are submitted and accepted, ABIM will provide more information on the exam, which is scheduled for October. Registration for the exam will begin in May. Detailed information about the application process will be presented at the ABIM pre-course at HM10. For more information, visit www.abim.org.

Register for HM10

With an agenda packed with networking events, eight pre-courses and more than 90 educational sessions, Hospital Medicine 2010 in Washington, D.C., promises to be the event for hospitalists of all stripes. The conference begins with pre-courses on Thursday, April 8, and runs through Sunday, April 11.

This year’s pre-courses will cover a range of topics, from critical care to practice management and quality improvement (QI). New hospitalists can receive an introduction to the specialty at “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success,” while physicians certified by ABIM can participate in the interactive MOC learning sessions. The ABIM session will include information about the inaugural MOC through the RFP in HM.

 

SHM’s annual meeting kicks off on Friday, April 9, with featured speaker Paul Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston. His presentation will focus on the role hospitalists will play in the hospital of the future.

On Sunday, HM thought-leader Robert Wachter, MD, FHM, chief of the hospital medicine division, professor, and associate chair of the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, a former SHM president, and author of the blog Wachter’s World, will share his thoughts about how healthcare reform will change HM, and vice versa.

Sandwiched in between will be sessions on every area of hospital medicine, including:

• Quality improvement;
• Hospitalist practice management;
• New research in HM;
• Clinical practice; and
• Pediatric HM.

For more information, visit the HM10 section of www.hospitalmedicine.org.

Apply for FHM, SFHM

The deadline for SHM Fellow applications is Jan. 15. This year, in addition to new fellows, the first class of senior fellows (SFHM) will be inducted at HM10.

More than 500 hospitalists were a part of the inaugural class of fellows introduced at HM09. Since then, the letters have begun to pop up everywhere. Hospitalists across the country are attaching “FHM” to their name and credentials for additional prestige and credibility among their peers.

Based on SHM’s Core Competencies in Hospital Medicine, the FHM and SFHM designations represent a hospitalist’s commitment to excellence, systems change, and QI. In addition to demonstrated experience in teamwork, leadership, and QI (scored on a point-based system), all qualified candidates must have:

• Five years completed as a practicing hospitalist;
• No disciplinary action that resulted in the suspension or revocation of credentials or license within five years; and
• Two SHM member endorsements.

Requirements for the SFHM designation are similar to that of FHM but require additional experience in leadership. In addition to using the SFHM designation, all fellows receive a personalized certificate from SHM, a listing on the SHM Web site, and a discount on SHM events and materials.

For more information, visit www. hospitalmedicine.org/fellows.

Get Involved in Advocacy

The future of healthcare delivery is being formed now. And it will change how every provider works.

Hospitalists will play a major role in healthcare reform, but it doesn’t end there. The extent of their impact will depend on their knowledge of the issues and their ability to reach out to members of Congress and others in government.

SHM’s Advocacy section at www.hospitalmedicine.org provides members all the information and resources to make a real difference, including:

• Resources from SHM, including position papers and public letters to government officials;
• Resources from other influential healthcare organizations;
• Monthly updates on legislation and other government activities that affect hospital medicine; and
• SHM’s Legislative Action Center.

For hospitalists new to public advocacy, SHM’s Legislative Action Center is a one-stop shop for learning more about the most pressing policy issues affecting HM. In less than 10 minutes, visitors can get up to speed on the issues and contact their members of Congress with a customizable e-mail or personal note. To get involved, visit www.hosp italmedicine.org/advocacy.

 

SHM Junior Faculty Development Award

For junior hospitalist faculty at academic hospital centers, making ends meet as you apply for such research grants as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services K Awards or the Veterans Administration’s Career Development Awards can be daunting or even prohibitive.

SHM is launching a program to assist two junior academic hospitalists: the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award. Two successful applicants will be awarded $25,000 a year for two years, and will receive mentoring from senior SHM faculty and the recipients’ host institutions.

To qualify, applicants must have an MD or a DO degree, have completed or be in the final year of a two- to three-year HM fellowship (or an equivalent post-residency program), and submit a research project proposal on a topic related to HM (e.g., QI, patient safety, or critical care). Full eligibility criteria are included in the request for application (RFA).

The program has two main goals: The new award aims to not only promote promising young academic hospitalists in a critical juncture of their careers, but it also aims to generate peer-reviewed research that will help all hospitalists to better practice in the specialty.

The deadline for submissions is Feb. 15. Winners will be notified April 5.

For details about the SHM Junior Faculty Development Award, including the RFA, contact Claudia Stahl at [email protected]. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

From continued membership growth to increased visibility in the national media, SHM and its members have been influencing healthcare for more than a decade. But even by the highest of standards, 2009 has been a landmark year—one that demonstrated hospitalists’ collective ability to transform healthcare and improve care to the hospitalized patient.

“The momentum of the hospital medicine movement has been growing for years, and 2009 has been no exception,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, president of SHM. “This year built on the successes of the past and plainly illustrated the impact that hospital medicine will have on the future of healthcare.”

Groundbreaking QI Programs Go Nationwide

This year, SHM and its members began to tackle some of the most pressing QI issues in healthcare: reducing readmissions to the hospital and glycemic control. New research in the New England Journal of Medicine couldn’t have made the need for reducing readmissions any clearer: Unplanned hospital readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion annually.1

TOMOGRAF/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) helps hospitals implement customized programs to reduce readmissions through improved discharge processes. Hospitalists who enroll in the yearlong program take advantage of a one-on-one mentorship arrangement with experts in the field. Participants can also access the Project BOOST resource toolkit.

Project BOOST began in six pilot hospital sites in 2008 and added 24 new sites in March 2009. The program’s leaders are looking forward to further expansion in 2010. “The response to Project BOOST has been overwhelmingly positive. Given today’s healthcare climate, we know its impact will be even greater in years to come,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives. “There is a very serious need to improve discharge processes in hospitals across the country. With Project BOOST, hospitalists are taking the initiative to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.”

SHM also launched the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation (GCMI) program. Like Project BOOST, GCMI uses a combination of one-on-one mentorships and customized resources to assist hospitalists with QI program implementation.

GCMI takes on another common chronic issue hospitalists face daily: managing glycemic levels in hospitalized patients. The GCMI program is currently in 30 sites across the country.

HM09 Draws Capacity Crowd in Chicago

In an economic climate that forced many industries’ annual meetings to be canceled, delayed, or scaled back, Hospital Medicine 2009 (HM09) in Chicago exceeded expectations. SHM had expected about 1,500 participants in the annual conference; organizers were pleasantly surprised to receive more than 2,000 registrations for the May event. The demand for exhibition space also surpassed projections.

“We’ve long known that hospitalists see real value in a meeting specifically designed for them, with relevant educational sessions and plenty of time for networking,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings. “Each year, we’ve received more and more interest in the annual conference, but the response to our 2009 conference was unprecedented.”

HM10 is April 8-11 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

SHM, MGMA Form Research Partnership

Beginning in 2010, SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) will team up to give hospitalists and healthcare executives an even clearer picture on hospitalist compensation and productivity.

Prior to the partnership, SHM had conducted its own research. Now, hospitals and HM managers will have new data at their fingertips, and additional analysis and name-brand recognition of one of the leaders in medical practice research. The first round of research will be available in summer 2010. SHM and MGMA already have collaborated on educational webinars for hospitalists, and SHM is offering books published by MGMA on its Web site.

 

“This new alliance will pay dividends for years to come,” says Leslie Flores, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute. “The information from our compensation and productivity surveys has always been valuable to hospitals. Having the MGMA name attached to next year’s product will only increase its significance and usefulness.”

Hospitalists will receive the joint survey questionnaire from SHM and MGMA in January.

HM Fellows

Three letters can mean a lot, especially for hospitalists looking for ways to demonstrate their commitment to the specialty. This year was the first in which qualified hospitalists could earn the Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM) designation. The first class of more than 500 FHM designees was introduced in an on-stage ceremony at HM09.

“This is a special way for SHM—and the healthcare industry as a whole—to recognize the unique achievements and dedication that hospital medicine requires,” says Todd Von Deak, MBA, CAE, SHM’s vice president for marketing and membership. “As the specialty grows in number and influence, so will the fellows program.”

In 2010, SHM will induct the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM). While the process for applying for the senior designation will be similar to the FHM designation, the SFHM will require additional years of practice and leadership in the specialty.

The fellows program also features the Master in Hospital Medicine (MHM) designation, the highest level of recognition available. The MHM will be available in 2011, and the nomination process will be invitation-only.

Outside Recognition

SHM isn’t the only group recognizing the impact hospitalists are making on healthcare. In September, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced that hospitalists will be able to apply for Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine as part of ABIM’s maintenance of certification (MOC) program. The application process will be available as early as next month.

SHM will be assisting hospitalists in the application process through online resources and the MOC pre-course, which will be offered before HM10. Hospitalists with three years of experience in the field can apply for the RFP program. Although most physicians are required to recertify every 10 years, hospitalists won’t have to wait until their certification is up to apply for focused recognition. For more information about the RFP in HM program, visit www.abim.org.

Hospital-Provider Partners

Treating hospitalized patients has always been a team sport. From caseworkers and pharmacists to physicians and critical-care nurses, the diverse and specialized needs of hospital care demand collaboration and coordination.

That’s the idea behind the Hospital Care Collaborative (HCC), which convened for the first time in 2009. The group is made up of six national organizations that represent hundreds of thousands of care providers. The HCC has developed and published “Common Principles for Team-Based Healthcare.” The principles emphasize the need for teamwork within the hospital setting and a focus on the patient.

 

As part of its goals for the future, the HCC will identify best practices in teamwork and promote educational programs that encourage interdisciplinary teams.

Look Back, Look Forward

For SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, the end of 2009 is an opportunity to look forward to 2010 and beyond. “Ten years ago, hospital medicine was little more than an idea,” he says. “Today, it is a growing medical specialty, recognized by leaders in healthcare and public policy, with thousands of experienced and enthusiastic hospitalists throughout the country.

“I am confident that when we look back ten years from now, we will see a hospital landscape transformed for the better, and that hospitalists and the rest of the new healthcare team will have played an important role.”­ TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Jencks SF, Williams MV, Coleman A. Rehospitaliza- tions among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14):1418-1428.

From continued membership growth to increased visibility in the national media, SHM and its members have been influencing healthcare for more than a decade. But even by the highest of standards, 2009 has been a landmark year—one that demonstrated hospitalists’ collective ability to transform healthcare and improve care to the hospitalized patient.

“The momentum of the hospital medicine movement has been growing for years, and 2009 has been no exception,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, president of SHM. “This year built on the successes of the past and plainly illustrated the impact that hospital medicine will have on the future of healthcare.”

Groundbreaking QI Programs Go Nationwide

This year, SHM and its members began to tackle some of the most pressing QI issues in healthcare: reducing readmissions to the hospital and glycemic control. New research in the New England Journal of Medicine couldn’t have made the need for reducing readmissions any clearer: Unplanned hospital readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion annually.1

TOMOGRAF/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) helps hospitals implement customized programs to reduce readmissions through improved discharge processes. Hospitalists who enroll in the yearlong program take advantage of a one-on-one mentorship arrangement with experts in the field. Participants can also access the Project BOOST resource toolkit.

Project BOOST began in six pilot hospital sites in 2008 and added 24 new sites in March 2009. The program’s leaders are looking forward to further expansion in 2010. “The response to Project BOOST has been overwhelmingly positive. Given today’s healthcare climate, we know its impact will be even greater in years to come,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives. “There is a very serious need to improve discharge processes in hospitals across the country. With Project BOOST, hospitalists are taking the initiative to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.”

SHM also launched the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation (GCMI) program. Like Project BOOST, GCMI uses a combination of one-on-one mentorships and customized resources to assist hospitalists with QI program implementation.

GCMI takes on another common chronic issue hospitalists face daily: managing glycemic levels in hospitalized patients. The GCMI program is currently in 30 sites across the country.

HM09 Draws Capacity Crowd in Chicago

In an economic climate that forced many industries’ annual meetings to be canceled, delayed, or scaled back, Hospital Medicine 2009 (HM09) in Chicago exceeded expectations. SHM had expected about 1,500 participants in the annual conference; organizers were pleasantly surprised to receive more than 2,000 registrations for the May event. The demand for exhibition space also surpassed projections.

“We’ve long known that hospitalists see real value in a meeting specifically designed for them, with relevant educational sessions and plenty of time for networking,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings. “Each year, we’ve received more and more interest in the annual conference, but the response to our 2009 conference was unprecedented.”

HM10 is April 8-11 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

SHM, MGMA Form Research Partnership

Beginning in 2010, SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) will team up to give hospitalists and healthcare executives an even clearer picture on hospitalist compensation and productivity.

Prior to the partnership, SHM had conducted its own research. Now, hospitals and HM managers will have new data at their fingertips, and additional analysis and name-brand recognition of one of the leaders in medical practice research. The first round of research will be available in summer 2010. SHM and MGMA already have collaborated on educational webinars for hospitalists, and SHM is offering books published by MGMA on its Web site.

 

“This new alliance will pay dividends for years to come,” says Leslie Flores, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute. “The information from our compensation and productivity surveys has always been valuable to hospitals. Having the MGMA name attached to next year’s product will only increase its significance and usefulness.”

Hospitalists will receive the joint survey questionnaire from SHM and MGMA in January.

HM Fellows

Three letters can mean a lot, especially for hospitalists looking for ways to demonstrate their commitment to the specialty. This year was the first in which qualified hospitalists could earn the Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM) designation. The first class of more than 500 FHM designees was introduced in an on-stage ceremony at HM09.

“This is a special way for SHM—and the healthcare industry as a whole—to recognize the unique achievements and dedication that hospital medicine requires,” says Todd Von Deak, MBA, CAE, SHM’s vice president for marketing and membership. “As the specialty grows in number and influence, so will the fellows program.”

In 2010, SHM will induct the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM). While the process for applying for the senior designation will be similar to the FHM designation, the SFHM will require additional years of practice and leadership in the specialty.

The fellows program also features the Master in Hospital Medicine (MHM) designation, the highest level of recognition available. The MHM will be available in 2011, and the nomination process will be invitation-only.

Outside Recognition

SHM isn’t the only group recognizing the impact hospitalists are making on healthcare. In September, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced that hospitalists will be able to apply for Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine as part of ABIM’s maintenance of certification (MOC) program. The application process will be available as early as next month.

SHM will be assisting hospitalists in the application process through online resources and the MOC pre-course, which will be offered before HM10. Hospitalists with three years of experience in the field can apply for the RFP program. Although most physicians are required to recertify every 10 years, hospitalists won’t have to wait until their certification is up to apply for focused recognition. For more information about the RFP in HM program, visit www.abim.org.

Hospital-Provider Partners

Treating hospitalized patients has always been a team sport. From caseworkers and pharmacists to physicians and critical-care nurses, the diverse and specialized needs of hospital care demand collaboration and coordination.

That’s the idea behind the Hospital Care Collaborative (HCC), which convened for the first time in 2009. The group is made up of six national organizations that represent hundreds of thousands of care providers. The HCC has developed and published “Common Principles for Team-Based Healthcare.” The principles emphasize the need for teamwork within the hospital setting and a focus on the patient.

 

As part of its goals for the future, the HCC will identify best practices in teamwork and promote educational programs that encourage interdisciplinary teams.

Look Back, Look Forward

For SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, the end of 2009 is an opportunity to look forward to 2010 and beyond. “Ten years ago, hospital medicine was little more than an idea,” he says. “Today, it is a growing medical specialty, recognized by leaders in healthcare and public policy, with thousands of experienced and enthusiastic hospitalists throughout the country.

“I am confident that when we look back ten years from now, we will see a hospital landscape transformed for the better, and that hospitalists and the rest of the new healthcare team will have played an important role.”­ TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Jencks SF, Williams MV, Coleman A. Rehospitaliza- tions among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14):1418-1428.

From continued membership growth to increased visibility in the national media, SHM and its members have been influencing healthcare for more than a decade. But even by the highest of standards, 2009 has been a landmark year—one that demonstrated hospitalists’ collective ability to transform healthcare and improve care to the hospitalized patient.

“The momentum of the hospital medicine movement has been growing for years, and 2009 has been no exception,” says Scott Flanders, MD, FHM, president of SHM. “This year built on the successes of the past and plainly illustrated the impact that hospital medicine will have on the future of healthcare.”

Groundbreaking QI Programs Go Nationwide

This year, SHM and its members began to tackle some of the most pressing QI issues in healthcare: reducing readmissions to the hospital and glycemic control. New research in the New England Journal of Medicine couldn’t have made the need for reducing readmissions any clearer: Unplanned hospital readmissions cost Medicare $17.4 billion annually.1

TOMOGRAF/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

SHM’s Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safe Transitions) helps hospitals implement customized programs to reduce readmissions through improved discharge processes. Hospitalists who enroll in the yearlong program take advantage of a one-on-one mentorship arrangement with experts in the field. Participants can also access the Project BOOST resource toolkit.

Project BOOST began in six pilot hospital sites in 2008 and added 24 new sites in March 2009. The program’s leaders are looking forward to further expansion in 2010. “The response to Project BOOST has been overwhelmingly positive. Given today’s healthcare climate, we know its impact will be even greater in years to come,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives. “There is a very serious need to improve discharge processes in hospitals across the country. With Project BOOST, hospitalists are taking the initiative to ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home.”

SHM also launched the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation (GCMI) program. Like Project BOOST, GCMI uses a combination of one-on-one mentorships and customized resources to assist hospitalists with QI program implementation.

GCMI takes on another common chronic issue hospitalists face daily: managing glycemic levels in hospitalized patients. The GCMI program is currently in 30 sites across the country.

HM09 Draws Capacity Crowd in Chicago

In an economic climate that forced many industries’ annual meetings to be canceled, delayed, or scaled back, Hospital Medicine 2009 (HM09) in Chicago exceeded expectations. SHM had expected about 1,500 participants in the annual conference; organizers were pleasantly surprised to receive more than 2,000 registrations for the May event. The demand for exhibition space also surpassed projections.

“We’ve long known that hospitalists see real value in a meeting specifically designed for them, with relevant educational sessions and plenty of time for networking,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings. “Each year, we’ve received more and more interest in the annual conference, but the response to our 2009 conference was unprecedented.”

HM10 is April 8-11 at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in Washington, D.C.

SHM, MGMA Form Research Partnership

Beginning in 2010, SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) will team up to give hospitalists and healthcare executives an even clearer picture on hospitalist compensation and productivity.

Prior to the partnership, SHM had conducted its own research. Now, hospitals and HM managers will have new data at their fingertips, and additional analysis and name-brand recognition of one of the leaders in medical practice research. The first round of research will be available in summer 2010. SHM and MGMA already have collaborated on educational webinars for hospitalists, and SHM is offering books published by MGMA on its Web site.

 

“This new alliance will pay dividends for years to come,” says Leslie Flores, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute. “The information from our compensation and productivity surveys has always been valuable to hospitals. Having the MGMA name attached to next year’s product will only increase its significance and usefulness.”

Hospitalists will receive the joint survey questionnaire from SHM and MGMA in January.

HM Fellows

Three letters can mean a lot, especially for hospitalists looking for ways to demonstrate their commitment to the specialty. This year was the first in which qualified hospitalists could earn the Fellow in Hospital Medicine (FHM) designation. The first class of more than 500 FHM designees was introduced in an on-stage ceremony at HM09.

“This is a special way for SHM—and the healthcare industry as a whole—to recognize the unique achievements and dedication that hospital medicine requires,” says Todd Von Deak, MBA, CAE, SHM’s vice president for marketing and membership. “As the specialty grows in number and influence, so will the fellows program.”

In 2010, SHM will induct the first class of Senior Fellows in Hospital Medicine (SFHM). While the process for applying for the senior designation will be similar to the FHM designation, the SFHM will require additional years of practice and leadership in the specialty.

The fellows program also features the Master in Hospital Medicine (MHM) designation, the highest level of recognition available. The MHM will be available in 2011, and the nomination process will be invitation-only.

Outside Recognition

SHM isn’t the only group recognizing the impact hospitalists are making on healthcare. In September, the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced that hospitalists will be able to apply for Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine as part of ABIM’s maintenance of certification (MOC) program. The application process will be available as early as next month.

SHM will be assisting hospitalists in the application process through online resources and the MOC pre-course, which will be offered before HM10. Hospitalists with three years of experience in the field can apply for the RFP program. Although most physicians are required to recertify every 10 years, hospitalists won’t have to wait until their certification is up to apply for focused recognition. For more information about the RFP in HM program, visit www.abim.org.

Hospital-Provider Partners

Treating hospitalized patients has always been a team sport. From caseworkers and pharmacists to physicians and critical-care nurses, the diverse and specialized needs of hospital care demand collaboration and coordination.

That’s the idea behind the Hospital Care Collaborative (HCC), which convened for the first time in 2009. The group is made up of six national organizations that represent hundreds of thousands of care providers. The HCC has developed and published “Common Principles for Team-Based Healthcare.” The principles emphasize the need for teamwork within the hospital setting and a focus on the patient.

 

As part of its goals for the future, the HCC will identify best practices in teamwork and promote educational programs that encourage interdisciplinary teams.

Look Back, Look Forward

For SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, the end of 2009 is an opportunity to look forward to 2010 and beyond. “Ten years ago, hospital medicine was little more than an idea,” he says. “Today, it is a growing medical specialty, recognized by leaders in healthcare and public policy, with thousands of experienced and enthusiastic hospitalists throughout the country.

“I am confident that when we look back ten years from now, we will see a hospital landscape transformed for the better, and that hospitalists and the rest of the new healthcare team will have played an important role.”­ TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Reference

1. Jencks SF, Williams MV, Coleman A. Rehospitaliza- tions among patients in the Medicare fee-for-service program. N Engl J Med. 2009;360(14):1418-1428.

When Kendall Rogers, MD, signed up for his first mentored implementation project, he remembers being skeptical. After all, it seemed too good to be true. “I wanted to ask, ‘What’s the catch? Are you trying to get us to adopt a certain practice?’ ” says Dr. Rogers, a hospitalist at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

Now, after participating in SHM’s Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Prevention Collaborative and later mentoring other hospitalists in SHM’s Glycemic Control Mentored Implemen-tation (GCMI) program, he understands the motivation.

“Mentored implementation is unique in that it accomplishes two goals,” he says. “It improves the nuts and bolts of a project, and it also creates new hospitalist leaders and quality-improvement [QI] experts.”

Prior to his work in the VTE Prevention Collaborative, Dr. Rogers had little exposure to QI programs. He has since implemented a VTE prevention program at his hospital, and his mentorship of hospitalists in the GCMI program is helping to create custom programs to optimize glycemic control protocols. He also is a faculty member for SHM’s QI and patient-safety pre-course and is leading SHM training sessions on VTE prevention.

The mentored implementation model, he says, is an effective way to get over many of the daunting roadblocks that can stand in the way of a hospitalist-led QI program. “Many people need that spark,” Dr. Rogers says. “This is a highly effective way to be that spark. I’ve seen too many people get disillusioned and frustrated with quality-improvement programs and give up. In these programs, the mentor can help identify and address roadblocks.”

What is Mentored Implementation?

In theory, mentored implementation is a unique and simple approach to both education and QI in healthcare. At its core, mentored implementation is the pairing of a program participant with a subject-matter expert who already has been involved in similar programs and will help the participant implement a QI program of their own.

 

The concept is new to QI initiatives. Although SHM has embraced the idea, mentored implementation programs first started at the Center to Advance Palliative Care in New York City, says Kathleen Kerr, SHM’s program manager for mentored implementation programs and senior research analyst in the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. The model is an alternative to more traditional educational approaches that rely exclusively on lectures or educational sessions.

“You could sit in a session and it’s very valuable, but also very different from actually doing it,” Kerr says. “It’s hard to process so much information in a session. You don’t understand the complexity of something like gathering data until you’re actually doing it. The mentor can tailor what they’re teaching to the exact stage of the project.”

In practice, the most effective mentored implementation projects create multiple layers of support for both the mentor and the participant. SHM’s mentored implementation programs include online resource rooms on the topic (e.g., glycemic control or hospital discharge) and collaboration between participants. Rather than being just repositories of information on the subject, SHM’s resource rooms are roadmaps for new programs.

“SHM’s resource rooms define an intervention that can be implemented,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings.

Those resources, plus ongoing guidance from mentors, help hospitalists implement QI programs at their hospitals. Many hospitalists are early in their careers and benefit from all of the resources available. The energy that early-career hospitalists bring to QI is one of the key components the program harnesses, Kerr says.

“Junior staff are really motivated to do things in their scope, but there aren’t really a lot of mid-career local mentors” who can provide the guidance they need, Kerr says.

Training Days

Given SHM’s focus on QI and the relative youth of both HM as a specialty and hospitalists in relation to their peers, the mentored implementation model seems particularly suited to hospitalists. Launched in 2007, the VTE Prevention Collaborative was SHM’s first mentored implementation program. It was designed to help hospitalists create custom programs to prevent VTE. The collaborative included mentors, an online resource room, and on-site consultations with experts.

SHM created Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older adults through Safe Transitions) in 2008. Project BOOST began with six pilot sites and has now expanded to 30 sites. Each hospital site can participate in daylong training sessions and yearlong mentorships. Sites also receive the Project BOOST implementation guide from SHM’s resource room. Since it was posted in July 2008, more than 250 hospitals have downloaded the guide.

In 2009, SHM and hospitalists are teaming up in 30 different sites across the country to improve early detection and treatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients through the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation program. Each participant in the two-year program receives a toolkit, access to Web-based resources, and is assigned a mentor to guide implementation.

MI 2.0

Despite early successes with SHM’s mentored implementation programs, those closest to them acknowledge there is room for improvement. Among a host of factors is the success of the next generation of programs, which will hinge on the idea’s scalability.

 

“We’re looking at testing models where we have a one-to-one mentoring program, compared to a one-to-five mentoring program,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives.

Kerr also sees opportunities to expand the scope without sacrificing the customized approach. “We are looking for ways to expand the reach of each individual effort. Right now, customization means that mentored implementation is more like building a Ferrari than a Ford,” she says. “We need to do some ‘train the trainer’ models and explore ways to reach more hospitals simultaneously.”

For Dr. Rogers, his experience with mentored implementation and QI has strengthened his resolve to help hospitalists get it right.

“We have a lot to learn to do this effectively. We have 5,000 hospitals out there and hospitalists are naturally looked at as leaders within the institution,” he says. “The failure of one hospitalist quality-improvement program affects all of us, so success is key. This is one of the most effective tools for doing it.”­ TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Letters

The Unique Potential of Hospitalists as Leaders in Healthcare Reform

The usual first response when a physician is asked, “Why do you practice medicine?” is “to help people.” This is especially true for younger practitioners. A frequent second response is “I like the independence.” As physicians, we enjoy being our own boss and calling the shots.

 

Therein rests the cultural healthcare quandary. Physicians need to accept the fact that standardization of medicine is going to happen, as it allows for improved efficiencies with a resultant decrease in healthcare expenditures. Yet the independent and entrepreneurial nature of physicians has caused them to resist the standardization of medicine for years. After all, while one fellow physician might treat a disease or perform a procedure differently than another, as long as it is efficacious, we all believe our peers should be able to practice the way they want.

Hospitalists are no different, as they are independent, too. They are simply working under the hospital umbrella. This relationship of working in hospitals positions HM practitioners, as a group, to be central players in the healthcare reform debate. This truly is a unique opportunity.

Looking demographically at the generational makeup of all physicians, we have four familiar groups represented: baby boomers, Gen X’ers, Gen Y’ers, and millennials. There are certain broad yet defining characteristics of these four generational groups. The baby boomers, being the offspring of the World War II generation, the generation that rebuilt the world and kept their “nose to the grindstone,” are defined by their work ethic. Simply put, boomers live to work. As children and students of the 1960s, they also value individuality.

Gen X’ers focus more on themselves, and often are referred to as the “me generation.” They expect to have a range of choices within their expression of individuality.

Gen Y’ers have a different work ethic, one their managers often find alarming. They are defined by the adage “work to live.” This dilemma, while difficult for their managers, allows Gen Y’ers to adapt to workplace practices, as their individuality is no longer of primary concern. After all, “it is only work.”

Millennials, having been brought up in the digital age, are bombarded with information and entertainment 24 hours a day. From birth on, they have heard that the future is uncertain. Demographically, they are more aligned with the work ethic of their great-grandparents, the World War II generation, and they are more willing to serve the common good. Thus, millennials, like Generation Y, are less individualistic and more willing to adapt to the work environment.

In considering hospitalists and their roles in the current healthcare debate and medical standards, this young specialty is uniquely poised to implement the upcoming standardizations required for three reasons. First, HM has an unusually large representation of Gen Y’ers and millennials—more than other medical specialties. These younger physicians, with their adaptability for the common good, are less resistant to the standardization of medicine.

Second, unlike most practitioners, hospitalists tend to practice in larger medical groups. Thus, they are familiar with standardization and the uniformity necessary for the group to practice effectively.

CHANG/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

Third, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adopting the experimental payment mechanism known as value-based purchasing, hospitals will insist on standardization to maximize reimbursement.

The benefits to HM practitioners are twofold. The hospitalist will share in reimbursement of pay-for-performance, thereby gaining a financial incentive for the greater efficiencies that standardization yields. This is evidenced by the trend that hospitalist contracts are increasingly based on pay-for-performance, rather than payment based on relative value units.

The second benefit, and perhaps the most important, is that the influence and power of hospitalists will greatly increase, particularly in formulating the standards of medical treatment, procedures, and, more importantly, QI and patient safety.

As the practice of HM matures from infancy into adolescence, recognizing the opportunity at hand and deciding how to proceed is paramount to its future position and existence.

 

Michael G. Cassatly, DMD

Certified business coach,

American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery diplomate

When Kendall Rogers, MD, signed up for his first mentored implementation project, he remembers being skeptical. After all, it seemed too good to be true. “I wanted to ask, ‘What’s the catch? Are you trying to get us to adopt a certain practice?’ ” says Dr. Rogers, a hospitalist at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

Now, after participating in SHM’s Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Prevention Collaborative and later mentoring other hospitalists in SHM’s Glycemic Control Mentored Implemen-tation (GCMI) program, he understands the motivation.

“Mentored implementation is unique in that it accomplishes two goals,” he says. “It improves the nuts and bolts of a project, and it also creates new hospitalist leaders and quality-improvement [QI] experts.”

Prior to his work in the VTE Prevention Collaborative, Dr. Rogers had little exposure to QI programs. He has since implemented a VTE prevention program at his hospital, and his mentorship of hospitalists in the GCMI program is helping to create custom programs to optimize glycemic control protocols. He also is a faculty member for SHM’s QI and patient-safety pre-course and is leading SHM training sessions on VTE prevention.

The mentored implementation model, he says, is an effective way to get over many of the daunting roadblocks that can stand in the way of a hospitalist-led QI program. “Many people need that spark,” Dr. Rogers says. “This is a highly effective way to be that spark. I’ve seen too many people get disillusioned and frustrated with quality-improvement programs and give up. In these programs, the mentor can help identify and address roadblocks.”

What is Mentored Implementation?

In theory, mentored implementation is a unique and simple approach to both education and QI in healthcare. At its core, mentored implementation is the pairing of a program participant with a subject-matter expert who already has been involved in similar programs and will help the participant implement a QI program of their own.

 

The concept is new to QI initiatives. Although SHM has embraced the idea, mentored implementation programs first started at the Center to Advance Palliative Care in New York City, says Kathleen Kerr, SHM’s program manager for mentored implementation programs and senior research analyst in the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. The model is an alternative to more traditional educational approaches that rely exclusively on lectures or educational sessions.

“You could sit in a session and it’s very valuable, but also very different from actually doing it,” Kerr says. “It’s hard to process so much information in a session. You don’t understand the complexity of something like gathering data until you’re actually doing it. The mentor can tailor what they’re teaching to the exact stage of the project.”

In practice, the most effective mentored implementation projects create multiple layers of support for both the mentor and the participant. SHM’s mentored implementation programs include online resource rooms on the topic (e.g., glycemic control or hospital discharge) and collaboration between participants. Rather than being just repositories of information on the subject, SHM’s resource rooms are roadmaps for new programs.

“SHM’s resource rooms define an intervention that can be implemented,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings.

Those resources, plus ongoing guidance from mentors, help hospitalists implement QI programs at their hospitals. Many hospitalists are early in their careers and benefit from all of the resources available. The energy that early-career hospitalists bring to QI is one of the key components the program harnesses, Kerr says.

“Junior staff are really motivated to do things in their scope, but there aren’t really a lot of mid-career local mentors” who can provide the guidance they need, Kerr says.

Training Days

Given SHM’s focus on QI and the relative youth of both HM as a specialty and hospitalists in relation to their peers, the mentored implementation model seems particularly suited to hospitalists. Launched in 2007, the VTE Prevention Collaborative was SHM’s first mentored implementation program. It was designed to help hospitalists create custom programs to prevent VTE. The collaborative included mentors, an online resource room, and on-site consultations with experts.

SHM created Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older adults through Safe Transitions) in 2008. Project BOOST began with six pilot sites and has now expanded to 30 sites. Each hospital site can participate in daylong training sessions and yearlong mentorships. Sites also receive the Project BOOST implementation guide from SHM’s resource room. Since it was posted in July 2008, more than 250 hospitals have downloaded the guide.

In 2009, SHM and hospitalists are teaming up in 30 different sites across the country to improve early detection and treatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients through the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation program. Each participant in the two-year program receives a toolkit, access to Web-based resources, and is assigned a mentor to guide implementation.

MI 2.0

Despite early successes with SHM’s mentored implementation programs, those closest to them acknowledge there is room for improvement. Among a host of factors is the success of the next generation of programs, which will hinge on the idea’s scalability.

 

“We’re looking at testing models where we have a one-to-one mentoring program, compared to a one-to-five mentoring program,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives.

Kerr also sees opportunities to expand the scope without sacrificing the customized approach. “We are looking for ways to expand the reach of each individual effort. Right now, customization means that mentored implementation is more like building a Ferrari than a Ford,” she says. “We need to do some ‘train the trainer’ models and explore ways to reach more hospitals simultaneously.”

For Dr. Rogers, his experience with mentored implementation and QI has strengthened his resolve to help hospitalists get it right.

“We have a lot to learn to do this effectively. We have 5,000 hospitals out there and hospitalists are naturally looked at as leaders within the institution,” he says. “The failure of one hospitalist quality-improvement program affects all of us, so success is key. This is one of the most effective tools for doing it.”­ TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Letters

The Unique Potential of Hospitalists as Leaders in Healthcare Reform

The usual first response when a physician is asked, “Why do you practice medicine?” is “to help people.” This is especially true for younger practitioners. A frequent second response is “I like the independence.” As physicians, we enjoy being our own boss and calling the shots.

 

Therein rests the cultural healthcare quandary. Physicians need to accept the fact that standardization of medicine is going to happen, as it allows for improved efficiencies with a resultant decrease in healthcare expenditures. Yet the independent and entrepreneurial nature of physicians has caused them to resist the standardization of medicine for years. After all, while one fellow physician might treat a disease or perform a procedure differently than another, as long as it is efficacious, we all believe our peers should be able to practice the way they want.

Hospitalists are no different, as they are independent, too. They are simply working under the hospital umbrella. This relationship of working in hospitals positions HM practitioners, as a group, to be central players in the healthcare reform debate. This truly is a unique opportunity.

Looking demographically at the generational makeup of all physicians, we have four familiar groups represented: baby boomers, Gen X’ers, Gen Y’ers, and millennials. There are certain broad yet defining characteristics of these four generational groups. The baby boomers, being the offspring of the World War II generation, the generation that rebuilt the world and kept their “nose to the grindstone,” are defined by their work ethic. Simply put, boomers live to work. As children and students of the 1960s, they also value individuality.

Gen X’ers focus more on themselves, and often are referred to as the “me generation.” They expect to have a range of choices within their expression of individuality.

Gen Y’ers have a different work ethic, one their managers often find alarming. They are defined by the adage “work to live.” This dilemma, while difficult for their managers, allows Gen Y’ers to adapt to workplace practices, as their individuality is no longer of primary concern. After all, “it is only work.”

Millennials, having been brought up in the digital age, are bombarded with information and entertainment 24 hours a day. From birth on, they have heard that the future is uncertain. Demographically, they are more aligned with the work ethic of their great-grandparents, the World War II generation, and they are more willing to serve the common good. Thus, millennials, like Generation Y, are less individualistic and more willing to adapt to the work environment.

In considering hospitalists and their roles in the current healthcare debate and medical standards, this young specialty is uniquely poised to implement the upcoming standardizations required for three reasons. First, HM has an unusually large representation of Gen Y’ers and millennials—more than other medical specialties. These younger physicians, with their adaptability for the common good, are less resistant to the standardization of medicine.

Second, unlike most practitioners, hospitalists tend to practice in larger medical groups. Thus, they are familiar with standardization and the uniformity necessary for the group to practice effectively.

CHANG/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

Third, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adopting the experimental payment mechanism known as value-based purchasing, hospitals will insist on standardization to maximize reimbursement.

The benefits to HM practitioners are twofold. The hospitalist will share in reimbursement of pay-for-performance, thereby gaining a financial incentive for the greater efficiencies that standardization yields. This is evidenced by the trend that hospitalist contracts are increasingly based on pay-for-performance, rather than payment based on relative value units.

The second benefit, and perhaps the most important, is that the influence and power of hospitalists will greatly increase, particularly in formulating the standards of medical treatment, procedures, and, more importantly, QI and patient safety.

As the practice of HM matures from infancy into adolescence, recognizing the opportunity at hand and deciding how to proceed is paramount to its future position and existence.

 

Michael G. Cassatly, DMD

Certified business coach,

American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery diplomate

When Kendall Rogers, MD, signed up for his first mentored implementation project, he remembers being skeptical. After all, it seemed too good to be true. “I wanted to ask, ‘What’s the catch? Are you trying to get us to adopt a certain practice?’ ” says Dr. Rogers, a hospitalist at the University of New Mexico Health Science Center School of Medicine in Albuquerque.

Now, after participating in SHM’s Venous Thromboembolism (VTE) Prevention Collaborative and later mentoring other hospitalists in SHM’s Glycemic Control Mentored Implemen-tation (GCMI) program, he understands the motivation.

“Mentored implementation is unique in that it accomplishes two goals,” he says. “It improves the nuts and bolts of a project, and it also creates new hospitalist leaders and quality-improvement [QI] experts.”

Prior to his work in the VTE Prevention Collaborative, Dr. Rogers had little exposure to QI programs. He has since implemented a VTE prevention program at his hospital, and his mentorship of hospitalists in the GCMI program is helping to create custom programs to optimize glycemic control protocols. He also is a faculty member for SHM’s QI and patient-safety pre-course and is leading SHM training sessions on VTE prevention.

The mentored implementation model, he says, is an effective way to get over many of the daunting roadblocks that can stand in the way of a hospitalist-led QI program. “Many people need that spark,” Dr. Rogers says. “This is a highly effective way to be that spark. I’ve seen too many people get disillusioned and frustrated with quality-improvement programs and give up. In these programs, the mentor can help identify and address roadblocks.”

What is Mentored Implementation?

In theory, mentored implementation is a unique and simple approach to both education and QI in healthcare. At its core, mentored implementation is the pairing of a program participant with a subject-matter expert who already has been involved in similar programs and will help the participant implement a QI program of their own.

 

The concept is new to QI initiatives. Although SHM has embraced the idea, mentored implementation programs first started at the Center to Advance Palliative Care in New York City, says Kathleen Kerr, SHM’s program manager for mentored implementation programs and senior research analyst in the Department of Medicine at the University of California at San Francisco. The model is an alternative to more traditional educational approaches that rely exclusively on lectures or educational sessions.

“You could sit in a session and it’s very valuable, but also very different from actually doing it,” Kerr says. “It’s hard to process so much information in a session. You don’t understand the complexity of something like gathering data until you’re actually doing it. The mentor can tailor what they’re teaching to the exact stage of the project.”

In practice, the most effective mentored implementation projects create multiple layers of support for both the mentor and the participant. SHM’s mentored implementation programs include online resource rooms on the topic (e.g., glycemic control or hospital discharge) and collaboration between participants. Rather than being just repositories of information on the subject, SHM’s resource rooms are roadmaps for new programs.

“SHM’s resource rooms define an intervention that can be implemented,” says Geri Barnes, SHM’s senior director of education and meetings.

Those resources, plus ongoing guidance from mentors, help hospitalists implement QI programs at their hospitals. Many hospitalists are early in their careers and benefit from all of the resources available. The energy that early-career hospitalists bring to QI is one of the key components the program harnesses, Kerr says.

“Junior staff are really motivated to do things in their scope, but there aren’t really a lot of mid-career local mentors” who can provide the guidance they need, Kerr says.

Training Days

Given SHM’s focus on QI and the relative youth of both HM as a specialty and hospitalists in relation to their peers, the mentored implementation model seems particularly suited to hospitalists. Launched in 2007, the VTE Prevention Collaborative was SHM’s first mentored implementation program. It was designed to help hospitalists create custom programs to prevent VTE. The collaborative included mentors, an online resource room, and on-site consultations with experts.

SHM created Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older adults through Safe Transitions) in 2008. Project BOOST began with six pilot sites and has now expanded to 30 sites. Each hospital site can participate in daylong training sessions and yearlong mentorships. Sites also receive the Project BOOST implementation guide from SHM’s resource room. Since it was posted in July 2008, more than 250 hospitals have downloaded the guide.

In 2009, SHM and hospitalists are teaming up in 30 different sites across the country to improve early detection and treatment of hyperglycemia in hospitalized patients through the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation program. Each participant in the two-year program receives a toolkit, access to Web-based resources, and is assigned a mentor to guide implementation.

MI 2.0

Despite early successes with SHM’s mentored implementation programs, those closest to them acknowledge there is room for improvement. Among a host of factors is the success of the next generation of programs, which will hinge on the idea’s scalability.

 

“We’re looking at testing models where we have a one-to-one mentoring program, compared to a one-to-five mentoring program,” says Jane Kelly-Cummings, RN, CPHQ, SHM’s senior director of quality initiatives.

Kerr also sees opportunities to expand the scope without sacrificing the customized approach. “We are looking for ways to expand the reach of each individual effort. Right now, customization means that mentored implementation is more like building a Ferrari than a Ford,” she says. “We need to do some ‘train the trainer’ models and explore ways to reach more hospitals simultaneously.”

For Dr. Rogers, his experience with mentored implementation and QI has strengthened his resolve to help hospitalists get it right.

“We have a lot to learn to do this effectively. We have 5,000 hospitals out there and hospitalists are naturally looked at as leaders within the institution,” he says. “The failure of one hospitalist quality-improvement program affects all of us, so success is key. This is one of the most effective tools for doing it.”­ TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Letters

The Unique Potential of Hospitalists as Leaders in Healthcare Reform

The usual first response when a physician is asked, “Why do you practice medicine?” is “to help people.” This is especially true for younger practitioners. A frequent second response is “I like the independence.” As physicians, we enjoy being our own boss and calling the shots.

 

Therein rests the cultural healthcare quandary. Physicians need to accept the fact that standardization of medicine is going to happen, as it allows for improved efficiencies with a resultant decrease in healthcare expenditures. Yet the independent and entrepreneurial nature of physicians has caused them to resist the standardization of medicine for years. After all, while one fellow physician might treat a disease or perform a procedure differently than another, as long as it is efficacious, we all believe our peers should be able to practice the way they want.

Hospitalists are no different, as they are independent, too. They are simply working under the hospital umbrella. This relationship of working in hospitals positions HM practitioners, as a group, to be central players in the healthcare reform debate. This truly is a unique opportunity.

Looking demographically at the generational makeup of all physicians, we have four familiar groups represented: baby boomers, Gen X’ers, Gen Y’ers, and millennials. There are certain broad yet defining characteristics of these four generational groups. The baby boomers, being the offspring of the World War II generation, the generation that rebuilt the world and kept their “nose to the grindstone,” are defined by their work ethic. Simply put, boomers live to work. As children and students of the 1960s, they also value individuality.

Gen X’ers focus more on themselves, and often are referred to as the “me generation.” They expect to have a range of choices within their expression of individuality.

Gen Y’ers have a different work ethic, one their managers often find alarming. They are defined by the adage “work to live.” This dilemma, while difficult for their managers, allows Gen Y’ers to adapt to workplace practices, as their individuality is no longer of primary concern. After all, “it is only work.”

Millennials, having been brought up in the digital age, are bombarded with information and entertainment 24 hours a day. From birth on, they have heard that the future is uncertain. Demographically, they are more aligned with the work ethic of their great-grandparents, the World War II generation, and they are more willing to serve the common good. Thus, millennials, like Generation Y, are less individualistic and more willing to adapt to the work environment.

In considering hospitalists and their roles in the current healthcare debate and medical standards, this young specialty is uniquely poised to implement the upcoming standardizations required for three reasons. First, HM has an unusually large representation of Gen Y’ers and millennials—more than other medical specialties. These younger physicians, with their adaptability for the common good, are less resistant to the standardization of medicine.

Second, unlike most practitioners, hospitalists tend to practice in larger medical groups. Thus, they are familiar with standardization and the uniformity necessary for the group to practice effectively.

CHANG/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

Third, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adopting the experimental payment mechanism known as value-based purchasing, hospitals will insist on standardization to maximize reimbursement.

The benefits to HM practitioners are twofold. The hospitalist will share in reimbursement of pay-for-performance, thereby gaining a financial incentive for the greater efficiencies that standardization yields. This is evidenced by the trend that hospitalist contracts are increasingly based on pay-for-performance, rather than payment based on relative value units.

The second benefit, and perhaps the most important, is that the influence and power of hospitalists will greatly increase, particularly in formulating the standards of medical treatment, procedures, and, more importantly, QI and patient safety.

As the practice of HM matures from infancy into adolescence, recognizing the opportunity at hand and deciding how to proceed is paramount to its future position and existence.

 

Michael G. Cassatly, DMD

Certified business coach,

American Board of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery diplomate

For a moment, put yourself in a hospital administrator’s shoes—more specifically, those of a hospital administrator who is looking to hire a handful of new hospitalists. You know the job duties you need to fill. You know what qualifications a candidate should have. You even know the hours you need covered.

But there remains one gaping hole in the job description: compensation.

The question of how much to offer hospitalists who are in the market for a new job—and, conversely, how much they can demand—has bedeviled the specialty since its inception. And, as HM continues its exponential growth throughout the national healthcare landscape, the devil is in the details. How does an administrator or HM group leader take into account years of experience in compensation? Do nocturnists demand more or less? What about shift work?

That picture will get clearer in 2010, thanks to a new partnership between SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Together, the two groups are embarking on an ambitious new research project to provide hospital administrators and hospitalist practice leaders a comprehensive—and credible—set of data on hospitalist compensation and productivity. The data will be published in an annual report issued jointly by SHM and MGMA.

Previously, data available to hospitalists about the state of HM were researched and published by SHM every two years. The new partnership builds on the society’s original work by using questions similar to the SHM survey, but will add MGMA’s authority on such subjects and analytical firepower.

Big Changes

The SHM-MGMA partnership will provide two major improvements to HM and hospital administrators: the annual publication of results and MGMA’s stamp of approval to the research.

New data every year is a welcome change for David Friar, MD, president of Hospitalists of Northwest Michigan in Traverse City. “Things in hospital medicine continue to change very quickly. By the time new data is published, it’s already a few months old,” Dr. Friar says. “Doing the survey on the annual basis will be very useful to us.”

Credibility from an independent source, which MGMA has cultivated through nearly 80 years of organizational performance research, should go a long way when hospitalists are negotiating with hospital administrators. The original SHM-produced survey carried major weight within HM; this new collaborative survey will build on that success by expanding the survey’s credibility in hospitals across the country. Hospital administrators have been turning to MGMA data for other management metrics for years; now they will be able to use the same trusted source for decisions about their HM programs.

“When we negotiate with hospital administrators, we use the current data as a benchmark for comparison,” Dr. Friar says. “[Administrators] are much more familiar with MGMA. The marriage of the two should be very helpful.”

 

The combination also helps alleviate some confusion in the marketplace, which was the goal of both organizations, according to Crystal Taylor, MGMA’s assistant director for survey operations. “Our survey has been the gold standard for compensation but hasn’t had a high degree of detail around hospitalist-specific metrics,” Taylor says. “SHM’s research has always had more detail in this area because it was more specialized.”

Subtle Change

Although the research will be published in mid-2010, SHM members will notice changes long before then. In fact, many hospitalists already have taken advantage of the partnership, says Leslie Flores, MHA, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute.

“SHM and MGMA have already done a number of collaborative things,” she says. “We’ve presented a webinar together, and SHM is now offering MGMA books on its online store.”

In the near future, SHM and MGMA members can expect to hear from both organizations. MGMA has invited SHM to present at MGMA’s national conference, and MGMA will be presenting at HM09 in Washington, D.C., in April. For other SHM members, their first contact with MGMA will be through the survey, which will begin in January, according to Flores. SHM will issue e-mail invitations to group leaders to participate in the survey. The link in the e-mail will take members to MGMA’s data-gathering Web site. SHM and MGMA will present webinars and other educational tools to help practice administrators and others understand the new survey instrument.

Enthusiastic Partner

Like any other promising relationship, both parties are animated about the potential the partnership has for the future. MGMA hopes working with SHM brings them into a new and growing marketplace.

“The hospitalist market is new to us, which is another benefit of the relationship,” says Steve Hellebush, an MGMA vice president who is responsible for the association’s work with SHM. “By being able to interact with experts at SHM who really understand that segment of the healthcare industry, we’re learning more about it. As we learn more, we’ll find more opportunities.”

Both groups agree the joint project will better define the marketplace for hospitalist jobs and compensation. Those familiar with the challenges of administrating a hospitalist practice know that those changes will have a deep impact on healthcare.

“This is about giving our members the best, most valuable information available,” says Tex Landis, MD, FHM, chairman of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. “By enabling hospital medicine groups to make better decisions, this partnership will ultimately translate into better care for patients.”TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Chapter Updates

Arizona

BRIAN ADDUCCI/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Arizona chapter had a well-attended meeting Aug. 13 at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Phoenix. Hospitalists, medical students, and several chief medical officers from local hospitals listened as chapter president Tochukwu S. Nwafor, MD, of Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, gave a lecture on VTE prophylaxis in the hospitalized patient. He discussed the pivotal role hospitalists provide in treating this medical condition and the leadership they can provide because of their accessibility and knowledge. The France Foundation sponsored the discussion.

After the lecture, VTE prevention strategies were discussed. The chapter agreed to continue such work on VTE in the future.

Chapter business was discussed after the lecture. Plans for the coming year include another weekend continuing medical education (CME) activity on pertinent hospitalist topics. The chapter also plans to continue its outreach to such outlying areas as Tucson and Flagstaff.

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met Aug. 18 at the Washow Grill in Reno. The 38 attendees represented four HM groups. Chapter president Phil Goodman provided an overview of SHM and its resources, meetings, fellowship, and membership costs. The chapter elected officers based on nominations submitted via e-mail and nominations at the chapter meeting. A written ballot was conducted, and the officers elected for 2009-2010 are:

• President: Sukumar Gargya, MD, Renown Hospitalists;
• VP Logistics/Secretary (president-elect): Levente Levai, MD, president, Sierra Hospitalists;
• VP Membership: Lynda Malloy, director, NNMC EmCare;
• VP Education: Nagesh Gullapalli, UNSOM Hospitalists; and
• VP Projects: Jose Aguirre, president, Lake Tahoe Regional Hospitalists.

The next meeting is Nov. 3. The agenda includes a talk on “Difficult Decisions in Afib Management.” The chapter also plans to resume a journal club that aims to publish two to three times per year, starting in late November or early December.

Primary Piedmont Triad Chapter

The Primary Piedmont Triad SHM chapter had its first meeting June 23 at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. The meeting was hosted by the Wake Forest Inpatient Physicians group of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sponsored by Schering-Plough. The chapter had dissolved a few years ago, so this meeting was a “meet and greet.”

Ten hospitalists attended the meeting, which included the selection of new officers. There was no special presentation. The evening was spent socializing, reviewing survey results and deciding on a new vision for the chapter. The group was extremely enthusiastic and excited about the future of HM, even in the current economic climate and uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform. The chapter is planning to have quarterly meetings.

Southern Illinois

STUARTB/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Southern Illinois chapter met July 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn in O’Fallon. The meeting was attended by 16 hospitalists from four HM groups. Theresa Murphy, a PharmD in neuro ICU at Barnes Jewish Hospital, presented on “Euvolemic and Hypervolemic Hyponatremia and AVP Antagonishm with Vapris.” The event was a success; attendees were pleased with the topics that were discussed.

Chicago

SHM’s Chicago chapter hosted a dinner July 29 at the Reel Club in Oakbrook, Ill. The speaker was Gary Shaer, MD, professor of medicine at Rush University. The topic for Dr. Shaer’s presentation was “Managing Patients with ACS in the Acute Setting: An Interventional Cardiologist’s Perspective.” The talk generated an excellent discussion. Various HM topics were debated, including healthcare reform and the hospitalist.

The chapter also welcomed new members and newly designated Fellows in Hospital Medicine. Attendees included hospitalists from Advocate Medical Group, Loyola Medical Center, Resurrection Hospitals, Northwestern Medical Center, and Signature Group.

 

The next chapter meeting will be in November; the date and location are to be announced. For more information about the Chicago chapter, contact Aziz Ansari, DO, FHM, at [email protected], or Ana Nowell, MD, FHM, at [email protected].

For a moment, put yourself in a hospital administrator’s shoes—more specifically, those of a hospital administrator who is looking to hire a handful of new hospitalists. You know the job duties you need to fill. You know what qualifications a candidate should have. You even know the hours you need covered.

But there remains one gaping hole in the job description: compensation.

The question of how much to offer hospitalists who are in the market for a new job—and, conversely, how much they can demand—has bedeviled the specialty since its inception. And, as HM continues its exponential growth throughout the national healthcare landscape, the devil is in the details. How does an administrator or HM group leader take into account years of experience in compensation? Do nocturnists demand more or less? What about shift work?

That picture will get clearer in 2010, thanks to a new partnership between SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Together, the two groups are embarking on an ambitious new research project to provide hospital administrators and hospitalist practice leaders a comprehensive—and credible—set of data on hospitalist compensation and productivity. The data will be published in an annual report issued jointly by SHM and MGMA.

Previously, data available to hospitalists about the state of HM were researched and published by SHM every two years. The new partnership builds on the society’s original work by using questions similar to the SHM survey, but will add MGMA’s authority on such subjects and analytical firepower.

Big Changes

The SHM-MGMA partnership will provide two major improvements to HM and hospital administrators: the annual publication of results and MGMA’s stamp of approval to the research.

New data every year is a welcome change for David Friar, MD, president of Hospitalists of Northwest Michigan in Traverse City. “Things in hospital medicine continue to change very quickly. By the time new data is published, it’s already a few months old,” Dr. Friar says. “Doing the survey on the annual basis will be very useful to us.”

Credibility from an independent source, which MGMA has cultivated through nearly 80 years of organizational performance research, should go a long way when hospitalists are negotiating with hospital administrators. The original SHM-produced survey carried major weight within HM; this new collaborative survey will build on that success by expanding the survey’s credibility in hospitals across the country. Hospital administrators have been turning to MGMA data for other management metrics for years; now they will be able to use the same trusted source for decisions about their HM programs.

“When we negotiate with hospital administrators, we use the current data as a benchmark for comparison,” Dr. Friar says. “[Administrators] are much more familiar with MGMA. The marriage of the two should be very helpful.”

 

The combination also helps alleviate some confusion in the marketplace, which was the goal of both organizations, according to Crystal Taylor, MGMA’s assistant director for survey operations. “Our survey has been the gold standard for compensation but hasn’t had a high degree of detail around hospitalist-specific metrics,” Taylor says. “SHM’s research has always had more detail in this area because it was more specialized.”

Subtle Change

Although the research will be published in mid-2010, SHM members will notice changes long before then. In fact, many hospitalists already have taken advantage of the partnership, says Leslie Flores, MHA, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute.

“SHM and MGMA have already done a number of collaborative things,” she says. “We’ve presented a webinar together, and SHM is now offering MGMA books on its online store.”

In the near future, SHM and MGMA members can expect to hear from both organizations. MGMA has invited SHM to present at MGMA’s national conference, and MGMA will be presenting at HM09 in Washington, D.C., in April. For other SHM members, their first contact with MGMA will be through the survey, which will begin in January, according to Flores. SHM will issue e-mail invitations to group leaders to participate in the survey. The link in the e-mail will take members to MGMA’s data-gathering Web site. SHM and MGMA will present webinars and other educational tools to help practice administrators and others understand the new survey instrument.

Enthusiastic Partner

Like any other promising relationship, both parties are animated about the potential the partnership has for the future. MGMA hopes working with SHM brings them into a new and growing marketplace.

“The hospitalist market is new to us, which is another benefit of the relationship,” says Steve Hellebush, an MGMA vice president who is responsible for the association’s work with SHM. “By being able to interact with experts at SHM who really understand that segment of the healthcare industry, we’re learning more about it. As we learn more, we’ll find more opportunities.”

Both groups agree the joint project will better define the marketplace for hospitalist jobs and compensation. Those familiar with the challenges of administrating a hospitalist practice know that those changes will have a deep impact on healthcare.

“This is about giving our members the best, most valuable information available,” says Tex Landis, MD, FHM, chairman of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. “By enabling hospital medicine groups to make better decisions, this partnership will ultimately translate into better care for patients.”TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Chapter Updates

Arizona

BRIAN ADDUCCI/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Arizona chapter had a well-attended meeting Aug. 13 at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Phoenix. Hospitalists, medical students, and several chief medical officers from local hospitals listened as chapter president Tochukwu S. Nwafor, MD, of Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, gave a lecture on VTE prophylaxis in the hospitalized patient. He discussed the pivotal role hospitalists provide in treating this medical condition and the leadership they can provide because of their accessibility and knowledge. The France Foundation sponsored the discussion.

After the lecture, VTE prevention strategies were discussed. The chapter agreed to continue such work on VTE in the future.

Chapter business was discussed after the lecture. Plans for the coming year include another weekend continuing medical education (CME) activity on pertinent hospitalist topics. The chapter also plans to continue its outreach to such outlying areas as Tucson and Flagstaff.

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met Aug. 18 at the Washow Grill in Reno. The 38 attendees represented four HM groups. Chapter president Phil Goodman provided an overview of SHM and its resources, meetings, fellowship, and membership costs. The chapter elected officers based on nominations submitted via e-mail and nominations at the chapter meeting. A written ballot was conducted, and the officers elected for 2009-2010 are:

• President: Sukumar Gargya, MD, Renown Hospitalists;
• VP Logistics/Secretary (president-elect): Levente Levai, MD, president, Sierra Hospitalists;
• VP Membership: Lynda Malloy, director, NNMC EmCare;
• VP Education: Nagesh Gullapalli, UNSOM Hospitalists; and
• VP Projects: Jose Aguirre, president, Lake Tahoe Regional Hospitalists.

The next meeting is Nov. 3. The agenda includes a talk on “Difficult Decisions in Afib Management.” The chapter also plans to resume a journal club that aims to publish two to three times per year, starting in late November or early December.

Primary Piedmont Triad Chapter

The Primary Piedmont Triad SHM chapter had its first meeting June 23 at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. The meeting was hosted by the Wake Forest Inpatient Physicians group of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sponsored by Schering-Plough. The chapter had dissolved a few years ago, so this meeting was a “meet and greet.”

Ten hospitalists attended the meeting, which included the selection of new officers. There was no special presentation. The evening was spent socializing, reviewing survey results and deciding on a new vision for the chapter. The group was extremely enthusiastic and excited about the future of HM, even in the current economic climate and uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform. The chapter is planning to have quarterly meetings.

Southern Illinois

STUARTB/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Southern Illinois chapter met July 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn in O’Fallon. The meeting was attended by 16 hospitalists from four HM groups. Theresa Murphy, a PharmD in neuro ICU at Barnes Jewish Hospital, presented on “Euvolemic and Hypervolemic Hyponatremia and AVP Antagonishm with Vapris.” The event was a success; attendees were pleased with the topics that were discussed.

Chicago

SHM’s Chicago chapter hosted a dinner July 29 at the Reel Club in Oakbrook, Ill. The speaker was Gary Shaer, MD, professor of medicine at Rush University. The topic for Dr. Shaer’s presentation was “Managing Patients with ACS in the Acute Setting: An Interventional Cardiologist’s Perspective.” The talk generated an excellent discussion. Various HM topics were debated, including healthcare reform and the hospitalist.

The chapter also welcomed new members and newly designated Fellows in Hospital Medicine. Attendees included hospitalists from Advocate Medical Group, Loyola Medical Center, Resurrection Hospitals, Northwestern Medical Center, and Signature Group.

 

The next chapter meeting will be in November; the date and location are to be announced. For more information about the Chicago chapter, contact Aziz Ansari, DO, FHM, at [email protected], or Ana Nowell, MD, FHM, at [email protected].

For a moment, put yourself in a hospital administrator’s shoes—more specifically, those of a hospital administrator who is looking to hire a handful of new hospitalists. You know the job duties you need to fill. You know what qualifications a candidate should have. You even know the hours you need covered.

But there remains one gaping hole in the job description: compensation.

The question of how much to offer hospitalists who are in the market for a new job—and, conversely, how much they can demand—has bedeviled the specialty since its inception. And, as HM continues its exponential growth throughout the national healthcare landscape, the devil is in the details. How does an administrator or HM group leader take into account years of experience in compensation? Do nocturnists demand more or less? What about shift work?

That picture will get clearer in 2010, thanks to a new partnership between SHM and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Together, the two groups are embarking on an ambitious new research project to provide hospital administrators and hospitalist practice leaders a comprehensive—and credible—set of data on hospitalist compensation and productivity. The data will be published in an annual report issued jointly by SHM and MGMA.

Previously, data available to hospitalists about the state of HM were researched and published by SHM every two years. The new partnership builds on the society’s original work by using questions similar to the SHM survey, but will add MGMA’s authority on such subjects and analytical firepower.

Big Changes

The SHM-MGMA partnership will provide two major improvements to HM and hospital administrators: the annual publication of results and MGMA’s stamp of approval to the research.

New data every year is a welcome change for David Friar, MD, president of Hospitalists of Northwest Michigan in Traverse City. “Things in hospital medicine continue to change very quickly. By the time new data is published, it’s already a few months old,” Dr. Friar says. “Doing the survey on the annual basis will be very useful to us.”

Credibility from an independent source, which MGMA has cultivated through nearly 80 years of organizational performance research, should go a long way when hospitalists are negotiating with hospital administrators. The original SHM-produced survey carried major weight within HM; this new collaborative survey will build on that success by expanding the survey’s credibility in hospitals across the country. Hospital administrators have been turning to MGMA data for other management metrics for years; now they will be able to use the same trusted source for decisions about their HM programs.

“When we negotiate with hospital administrators, we use the current data as a benchmark for comparison,” Dr. Friar says. “[Administrators] are much more familiar with MGMA. The marriage of the two should be very helpful.”

 

The combination also helps alleviate some confusion in the marketplace, which was the goal of both organizations, according to Crystal Taylor, MGMA’s assistant director for survey operations. “Our survey has been the gold standard for compensation but hasn’t had a high degree of detail around hospitalist-specific metrics,” Taylor says. “SHM’s research has always had more detail in this area because it was more specialized.”

Subtle Change

Although the research will be published in mid-2010, SHM members will notice changes long before then. In fact, many hospitalists already have taken advantage of the partnership, says Leslie Flores, MHA, the director of SHM’s Practice Management Institute.

“SHM and MGMA have already done a number of collaborative things,” she says. “We’ve presented a webinar together, and SHM is now offering MGMA books on its online store.”

In the near future, SHM and MGMA members can expect to hear from both organizations. MGMA has invited SHM to present at MGMA’s national conference, and MGMA will be presenting at HM09 in Washington, D.C., in April. For other SHM members, their first contact with MGMA will be through the survey, which will begin in January, according to Flores. SHM will issue e-mail invitations to group leaders to participate in the survey. The link in the e-mail will take members to MGMA’s data-gathering Web site. SHM and MGMA will present webinars and other educational tools to help practice administrators and others understand the new survey instrument.

Enthusiastic Partner

Like any other promising relationship, both parties are animated about the potential the partnership has for the future. MGMA hopes working with SHM brings them into a new and growing marketplace.

“The hospitalist market is new to us, which is another benefit of the relationship,” says Steve Hellebush, an MGMA vice president who is responsible for the association’s work with SHM. “By being able to interact with experts at SHM who really understand that segment of the healthcare industry, we’re learning more about it. As we learn more, we’ll find more opportunities.”

Both groups agree the joint project will better define the marketplace for hospitalist jobs and compensation. Those familiar with the challenges of administrating a hospitalist practice know that those changes will have a deep impact on healthcare.

“This is about giving our members the best, most valuable information available,” says Tex Landis, MD, FHM, chairman of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. “By enabling hospital medicine groups to make better decisions, this partnership will ultimately translate into better care for patients.”TH

Brandon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

 

Chapter Updates

Arizona

BRIAN ADDUCCI/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Arizona chapter had a well-attended meeting Aug. 13 at Ruth’s Chris Steak House in Phoenix. Hospitalists, medical students, and several chief medical officers from local hospitals listened as chapter president Tochukwu S. Nwafor, MD, of Maricopa Medical Center in Phoenix, gave a lecture on VTE prophylaxis in the hospitalized patient. He discussed the pivotal role hospitalists provide in treating this medical condition and the leadership they can provide because of their accessibility and knowledge. The France Foundation sponsored the discussion.

After the lecture, VTE prevention strategies were discussed. The chapter agreed to continue such work on VTE in the future.

Chapter business was discussed after the lecture. Plans for the coming year include another weekend continuing medical education (CME) activity on pertinent hospitalist topics. The chapter also plans to continue its outreach to such outlying areas as Tucson and Flagstaff.

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met Aug. 18 at the Washow Grill in Reno. The 38 attendees represented four HM groups. Chapter president Phil Goodman provided an overview of SHM and its resources, meetings, fellowship, and membership costs. The chapter elected officers based on nominations submitted via e-mail and nominations at the chapter meeting. A written ballot was conducted, and the officers elected for 2009-2010 are:

• President: Sukumar Gargya, MD, Renown Hospitalists;
• VP Logistics/Secretary (president-elect): Levente Levai, MD, president, Sierra Hospitalists;
• VP Membership: Lynda Malloy, director, NNMC EmCare;
• VP Education: Nagesh Gullapalli, UNSOM Hospitalists; and
• VP Projects: Jose Aguirre, president, Lake Tahoe Regional Hospitalists.

The next meeting is Nov. 3. The agenda includes a talk on “Difficult Decisions in Afib Management.” The chapter also plans to resume a journal club that aims to publish two to three times per year, starting in late November or early December.

Primary Piedmont Triad Chapter

The Primary Piedmont Triad SHM chapter had its first meeting June 23 at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center in Winston-Salem, N.C. The meeting was hosted by the Wake Forest Inpatient Physicians group of Wake Forest University Health Sciences and sponsored by Schering-Plough. The chapter had dissolved a few years ago, so this meeting was a “meet and greet.”

Ten hospitalists attended the meeting, which included the selection of new officers. There was no special presentation. The evening was spent socializing, reviewing survey results and deciding on a new vision for the chapter. The group was extremely enthusiastic and excited about the future of HM, even in the current economic climate and uncertainty surrounding healthcare reform. The chapter is planning to have quarterly meetings.

Southern Illinois

STUARTB/ISTOCKPHOTO.COM

The Southern Illinois chapter met July 23 at the Hilton Garden Inn in O’Fallon. The meeting was attended by 16 hospitalists from four HM groups. Theresa Murphy, a PharmD in neuro ICU at Barnes Jewish Hospital, presented on “Euvolemic and Hypervolemic Hyponatremia and AVP Antagonishm with Vapris.” The event was a success; attendees were pleased with the topics that were discussed.

Chicago

SHM’s Chicago chapter hosted a dinner July 29 at the Reel Club in Oakbrook, Ill. The speaker was Gary Shaer, MD, professor of medicine at Rush University. The topic for Dr. Shaer’s presentation was “Managing Patients with ACS in the Acute Setting: An Interventional Cardiologist’s Perspective.” The talk generated an excellent discussion. Various HM topics were debated, including healthcare reform and the hospitalist.

The chapter also welcomed new members and newly designated Fellows in Hospital Medicine. Attendees included hospitalists from Advocate Medical Group, Loyola Medical Center, Resurrection Hospitals, Northwestern Medical Center, and Signature Group.

 

The next chapter meeting will be in November; the date and location are to be announced. For more information about the Chicago chapter, contact Aziz Ansari, DO, FHM, at [email protected], or Ana Nowell, MD, FHM, at [email protected].

To Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, FACP, FHM, the concept of simulation-based mastery learning is simplistic to the point of genius. Give a hospitalist—or any other physician—a physical task and let them practice the procedure until they master it. Take care not to fall into the decades-old mind-set that repetition alone will achieve a threshold of competence. Test the competence with a rigorous assessment schedule, which will objectively determine if the skill is truly mastered.

It’s standard operating procedure in many technical fields, such as engineering, computer programming, and aviation. For example, professional pilots undergo countless hours of simulation flying to freshen and further hone the skills they need to succeed in an airplane cockpit. But with tasks as menial as central venous catheter (CVC) insertions, the typical practice most young physicians get is the trial and error of needle passes.

More training, Dr. Barsuk argues, would make everyone involved better off—from the resident nervously seeking a line to the patient who wants the procedure completed as quickly and painlessly as possible.

“It’s very common sense,” says Dr. Barsuk, assistant professor of medicine in the division of hospital medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “But no one is doing this. People don’t know that simulators are so effective. At least in the medical profession, we’re probably behind the times in it. … We’re enthusiastic about it because we believe in it so much. We want to see how far it can go. With mastery learning, the sky’s the limit. You can simulate almost anything you want.”

Dr. Barsuk and his colleagues have worked hard to translate “common sense” into empirical literature. Accordingly, the team will publish their latest work, “Use of Simulation-Based Mastery Learning to Improve the Quality of Central Venous Catheter Placement in a Medical Intensive Care Unit,” in September’s Journal of Hospital Medicine. The single-institution cohort study found simulation-based mastery learning increased internal-medicine residents’ skills in simulated CVC insertions, decreased the number of needle passes when performing actual procedures, and increased resident self-confidence.

“It’s always been assumed that experience in and of itself is a proxy for competence,” says William McGaghie, PhD, professor of medical education and preventive medicine at Feinberg, as well as director of evaluation for Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (NUCATS). “We now know that is not the case … if skill acquisition is the goal. Experience on the wards isn’t enough. We have to have deliberate education interventions to practice in controlled, safe environments.”

The Northwestern study put that theory to the test. It aimed to expand mastery learning to a new skill set and assess quality indicators (number of needle passes, arterial punctures, etc.) and resident confidence before and after training modules. The team studied 41 second- and third-year residents rotating through the medical intensive-care unit (MICU) from October 2006 to February 2007. The university’s Institutional Review Board approved the study, and all of the participants gave informed consent prior to participating. Thirteen of the residents rotated through during a six-week pre-intervention phase, serving as the “traditionally-trained group,” the authors wrote. Twenty-eight residents were trained on Simulab’s CentralLineMan, a model with “ultrasound compatibility, an arterial pulse, and self-sealing veins and skins. Needles, dilators and guidewires can be inserted and realistic venous and arterial pressures demonstrated,” the authors wrote.

 

The residents who were trained for internal jugular (IJ) and subclavian (SC) CVC insertions received two two-hour education sessions consisting of a lecture, ultrasound training, deliberate practice, and feedback. A 27-item checklist was drafted to measure outcomes; all pre- and post-tests were graded by a single unblended instructor to ensure accuracy. According to the study:

• None of the residents met the minimum passing score (MPS) of 79.1% for CVC insertion at baseline: mean IJ=48.4%, standard deviation=23.1; mean SC=45.2%, standard deviation=26.3;
• All residents met or exceeded the MPS at testing after simulation training: mean IJ=94.8%, standard deviation=10.0; mean SC=91.1%, standard deviation=17.8 (P<0.001);
• In the MICU, simulator-trained residents required fewer needle passes to insert a CVC than traditionally trained residents: mean=1.79, standard deviation=1.0 vs. mean=2.78, standard deviation=1.77 (P=0.04);
• Simulator-trained residents displayed more self-confidence about their procedural skills: mean=81, standard deviation=11 vs. mean=68, standard deviation=20 (P=0.02).

Dr. Barsuk isn’t surprised that confidence increases with training, saying “they hammer this home.” There were several categories for which the authors found no major improvement, though, even with the addition of deliberate training and standardized didactic materials.

Notably, the authors wrote, the resident groups “did not differ in pneumothorax, arterial puncture, or mean number of CVC adjustments.” Some of the lack of disparity was attributed to the small sample size.

In interviews, the authors noted that additional study would help assess such clinical outcomes as reduced CVC-related infections after simulation-based training. Still, Dr. Barsuk says, this pilot report is an important first step to win over skeptics.

“Simulation-based training and deliberate practice in a mastery learning setting improves performance of both simulated and actual CVC insertions by internal medicine residents,” the study reads. “Procedural training remains an important component of internal medicine training although internists are performing fewer invasive procedures now than in years past. Use of a mastery model of CVC insertion requires that trainees demonstrate skill in a simulated environment before independently performing this invasive procedure on patients.”

Another advantage of the training, McGaghie says, is that it helps physicians track their own improvement. He cautions against administrators using the data for more nefarious purposes, lest the testing become unpopular and less useful to quality improvement programs.

“You don’t use these evaluations as a weapon; you use them as a tool,” McGaghie says. “No one is there to beat up the doctors; no one is there to make them look foolish. The whole idea is to be as rigorous as possible to look for improvement—constant improvement.” TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

To Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, FACP, FHM, the concept of simulation-based mastery learning is simplistic to the point of genius. Give a hospitalist—or any other physician—a physical task and let them practice the procedure until they master it. Take care not to fall into the decades-old mind-set that repetition alone will achieve a threshold of competence. Test the competence with a rigorous assessment schedule, which will objectively determine if the skill is truly mastered.

It’s standard operating procedure in many technical fields, such as engineering, computer programming, and aviation. For example, professional pilots undergo countless hours of simulation flying to freshen and further hone the skills they need to succeed in an airplane cockpit. But with tasks as menial as central venous catheter (CVC) insertions, the typical practice most young physicians get is the trial and error of needle passes.

More training, Dr. Barsuk argues, would make everyone involved better off—from the resident nervously seeking a line to the patient who wants the procedure completed as quickly and painlessly as possible.

“It’s very common sense,” says Dr. Barsuk, assistant professor of medicine in the division of hospital medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “But no one is doing this. People don’t know that simulators are so effective. At least in the medical profession, we’re probably behind the times in it. … We’re enthusiastic about it because we believe in it so much. We want to see how far it can go. With mastery learning, the sky’s the limit. You can simulate almost anything you want.”

Dr. Barsuk and his colleagues have worked hard to translate “common sense” into empirical literature. Accordingly, the team will publish their latest work, “Use of Simulation-Based Mastery Learning to Improve the Quality of Central Venous Catheter Placement in a Medical Intensive Care Unit,” in September’s Journal of Hospital Medicine. The single-institution cohort study found simulation-based mastery learning increased internal-medicine residents’ skills in simulated CVC insertions, decreased the number of needle passes when performing actual procedures, and increased resident self-confidence.

“It’s always been assumed that experience in and of itself is a proxy for competence,” says William McGaghie, PhD, professor of medical education and preventive medicine at Feinberg, as well as director of evaluation for Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (NUCATS). “We now know that is not the case … if skill acquisition is the goal. Experience on the wards isn’t enough. We have to have deliberate education interventions to practice in controlled, safe environments.”

The Northwestern study put that theory to the test. It aimed to expand mastery learning to a new skill set and assess quality indicators (number of needle passes, arterial punctures, etc.) and resident confidence before and after training modules. The team studied 41 second- and third-year residents rotating through the medical intensive-care unit (MICU) from October 2006 to February 2007. The university’s Institutional Review Board approved the study, and all of the participants gave informed consent prior to participating. Thirteen of the residents rotated through during a six-week pre-intervention phase, serving as the “traditionally-trained group,” the authors wrote. Twenty-eight residents were trained on Simulab’s CentralLineMan, a model with “ultrasound compatibility, an arterial pulse, and self-sealing veins and skins. Needles, dilators and guidewires can be inserted and realistic venous and arterial pressures demonstrated,” the authors wrote.

 

The residents who were trained for internal jugular (IJ) and subclavian (SC) CVC insertions received two two-hour education sessions consisting of a lecture, ultrasound training, deliberate practice, and feedback. A 27-item checklist was drafted to measure outcomes; all pre- and post-tests were graded by a single unblended instructor to ensure accuracy. According to the study:

• None of the residents met the minimum passing score (MPS) of 79.1% for CVC insertion at baseline: mean IJ=48.4%, standard deviation=23.1; mean SC=45.2%, standard deviation=26.3;
• All residents met or exceeded the MPS at testing after simulation training: mean IJ=94.8%, standard deviation=10.0; mean SC=91.1%, standard deviation=17.8 (P<0.001);
• In the MICU, simulator-trained residents required fewer needle passes to insert a CVC than traditionally trained residents: mean=1.79, standard deviation=1.0 vs. mean=2.78, standard deviation=1.77 (P=0.04);
• Simulator-trained residents displayed more self-confidence about their procedural skills: mean=81, standard deviation=11 vs. mean=68, standard deviation=20 (P=0.02).

Dr. Barsuk isn’t surprised that confidence increases with training, saying “they hammer this home.” There were several categories for which the authors found no major improvement, though, even with the addition of deliberate training and standardized didactic materials.

Notably, the authors wrote, the resident groups “did not differ in pneumothorax, arterial puncture, or mean number of CVC adjustments.” Some of the lack of disparity was attributed to the small sample size.

In interviews, the authors noted that additional study would help assess such clinical outcomes as reduced CVC-related infections after simulation-based training. Still, Dr. Barsuk says, this pilot report is an important first step to win over skeptics.

“Simulation-based training and deliberate practice in a mastery learning setting improves performance of both simulated and actual CVC insertions by internal medicine residents,” the study reads. “Procedural training remains an important component of internal medicine training although internists are performing fewer invasive procedures now than in years past. Use of a mastery model of CVC insertion requires that trainees demonstrate skill in a simulated environment before independently performing this invasive procedure on patients.”

Another advantage of the training, McGaghie says, is that it helps physicians track their own improvement. He cautions against administrators using the data for more nefarious purposes, lest the testing become unpopular and less useful to quality improvement programs.

“You don’t use these evaluations as a weapon; you use them as a tool,” McGaghie says. “No one is there to beat up the doctors; no one is there to make them look foolish. The whole idea is to be as rigorous as possible to look for improvement—constant improvement.” TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

To Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, FACP, FHM, the concept of simulation-based mastery learning is simplistic to the point of genius. Give a hospitalist—or any other physician—a physical task and let them practice the procedure until they master it. Take care not to fall into the decades-old mind-set that repetition alone will achieve a threshold of competence. Test the competence with a rigorous assessment schedule, which will objectively determine if the skill is truly mastered.

It’s standard operating procedure in many technical fields, such as engineering, computer programming, and aviation. For example, professional pilots undergo countless hours of simulation flying to freshen and further hone the skills they need to succeed in an airplane cockpit. But with tasks as menial as central venous catheter (CVC) insertions, the typical practice most young physicians get is the trial and error of needle passes.

More training, Dr. Barsuk argues, would make everyone involved better off—from the resident nervously seeking a line to the patient who wants the procedure completed as quickly and painlessly as possible.

“It’s very common sense,” says Dr. Barsuk, assistant professor of medicine in the division of hospital medicine at Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago. “But no one is doing this. People don’t know that simulators are so effective. At least in the medical profession, we’re probably behind the times in it. … We’re enthusiastic about it because we believe in it so much. We want to see how far it can go. With mastery learning, the sky’s the limit. You can simulate almost anything you want.”

Dr. Barsuk and his colleagues have worked hard to translate “common sense” into empirical literature. Accordingly, the team will publish their latest work, “Use of Simulation-Based Mastery Learning to Improve the Quality of Central Venous Catheter Placement in a Medical Intensive Care Unit,” in September’s Journal of Hospital Medicine. The single-institution cohort study found simulation-based mastery learning increased internal-medicine residents’ skills in simulated CVC insertions, decreased the number of needle passes when performing actual procedures, and increased resident self-confidence.

“It’s always been assumed that experience in and of itself is a proxy for competence,” says William McGaghie, PhD, professor of medical education and preventive medicine at Feinberg, as well as director of evaluation for Northwestern University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute (NUCATS). “We now know that is not the case … if skill acquisition is the goal. Experience on the wards isn’t enough. We have to have deliberate education interventions to practice in controlled, safe environments.”

The Northwestern study put that theory to the test. It aimed to expand mastery learning to a new skill set and assess quality indicators (number of needle passes, arterial punctures, etc.) and resident confidence before and after training modules. The team studied 41 second- and third-year residents rotating through the medical intensive-care unit (MICU) from October 2006 to February 2007. The university’s Institutional Review Board approved the study, and all of the participants gave informed consent prior to participating. Thirteen of the residents rotated through during a six-week pre-intervention phase, serving as the “traditionally-trained group,” the authors wrote. Twenty-eight residents were trained on Simulab’s CentralLineMan, a model with “ultrasound compatibility, an arterial pulse, and self-sealing veins and skins. Needles, dilators and guidewires can be inserted and realistic venous and arterial pressures demonstrated,” the authors wrote.

 

The residents who were trained for internal jugular (IJ) and subclavian (SC) CVC insertions received two two-hour education sessions consisting of a lecture, ultrasound training, deliberate practice, and feedback. A 27-item checklist was drafted to measure outcomes; all pre- and post-tests were graded by a single unblended instructor to ensure accuracy. According to the study:

• None of the residents met the minimum passing score (MPS) of 79.1% for CVC insertion at baseline: mean IJ=48.4%, standard deviation=23.1; mean SC=45.2%, standard deviation=26.3;
• All residents met or exceeded the MPS at testing after simulation training: mean IJ=94.8%, standard deviation=10.0; mean SC=91.1%, standard deviation=17.8 (P<0.001);
• In the MICU, simulator-trained residents required fewer needle passes to insert a CVC than traditionally trained residents: mean=1.79, standard deviation=1.0 vs. mean=2.78, standard deviation=1.77 (P=0.04);
• Simulator-trained residents displayed more self-confidence about their procedural skills: mean=81, standard deviation=11 vs. mean=68, standard deviation=20 (P=0.02).

Dr. Barsuk isn’t surprised that confidence increases with training, saying “they hammer this home.” There were several categories for which the authors found no major improvement, though, even with the addition of deliberate training and standardized didactic materials.

Notably, the authors wrote, the resident groups “did not differ in pneumothorax, arterial puncture, or mean number of CVC adjustments.” Some of the lack of disparity was attributed to the small sample size.

In interviews, the authors noted that additional study would help assess such clinical outcomes as reduced CVC-related infections after simulation-based training. Still, Dr. Barsuk says, this pilot report is an important first step to win over skeptics.

“Simulation-based training and deliberate practice in a mastery learning setting improves performance of both simulated and actual CVC insertions by internal medicine residents,” the study reads. “Procedural training remains an important component of internal medicine training although internists are performing fewer invasive procedures now than in years past. Use of a mastery model of CVC insertion requires that trainees demonstrate skill in a simulated environment before independently performing this invasive procedure on patients.”

Another advantage of the training, McGaghie says, is that it helps physicians track their own improvement. He cautions against administrators using the data for more nefarious purposes, lest the testing become unpopular and less useful to quality improvement programs.

“You don’t use these evaluations as a weapon; you use them as a tool,” McGaghie says. “No one is there to beat up the doctors; no one is there to make them look foolish. The whole idea is to be as rigorous as possible to look for improvement—constant improvement.” TH

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.

For hospitalists attending SHM’s Leadership Academy, the final day isn’t the end of the experience. It’s just the beginning.

Now in its fifth year, the Leadership Academy provides hospitalists of all backgrounds the opportunity to come together and address the managerial and practical issues of HM that aren’t covered in medical school. The demand for leadership training within the specialty has been so great that the Leadership Academy is now split into two levels; Level II is reserved for hospitalists who have completed the Level I program or have an MBA.

Level I covers the fundamental elements for leading groups—and change—within a hospital. Hospitalists learn how to take on leadership roles, better understand group dynamics, manage conflict, and improve communication.

Level II, which traditionally has had smaller class sizes, goes deeper into managerial issues that relate to hospital administration and leadership. The advanced program features such all-day sessions as “Financial Storytelling” and the popular “Meta-Leadership in Hospital Medicine.”

Leadership Academy’s true impact is felt shortly after hospitalists return to their hospitals. “Hospitalists send e-mails within a week of the end of Leadership Academy,” says Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, CEO of SHM. “They tell us about the tangible actions that they’ve already taken as a result of what they’ve learned over the four days of Leadership Academy. … In just a few days, hospitalists learn from some of the best in the specialty and thought leaders outside of the field, too.”

Immediate Results

Hospitalists—and those who work with them—often see the change the academy has on a physician soon after the attendee returns to work. “It’s like a light bulb goes on,” says Rachel George, MD, regional medical director and vice president for operations at Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. “They get it. They come back from the Leadership Academy with an understanding of how to lead their own groups and manage through change.”

Dr. George, who attended Level I and Level II programs and now facilitates academy sessions, says Leadership Academy is “almost mandatory” for Cogent’s medical directors. The company encourages all of its physicians to attend.

One of the most valuable aspects of the program, she says, is the long-term impact. Dr. George completed the advanced course in 2005 and still enjoys catching up with her fellow academy attendees, as well as learning about what they have achieved in the subsequent years. Many classmates have become medical directors, and she says they credit the academy for many of the positive changes in their groups.

“It’s absolutely worth it,” she says. “Both levels are worth the time and investment. And ‘leadership’ doesn’t necessarily mean being a leader of your group. It can also mean being a leader of change and initiatives within the hospital.”

WENDY HOLDEN/ISTOCKPHOTO

Active Training for Active Leaders

Although the word “academy” might conjure ideas of long-winded seminars or Socratic debate, SHM’s Leadership Academy emphasizes a hands-on learning style. Hospitalists are divided into groups to tackle real-world issues that affect hospitals, hospitalists, and patients, such as QI initiatives and ED throughput.

The courses feature some of the most engaging speakers in HM and insightful presentations from experts outside of the specialty.

The faculty also includes nonphysicians; for example, Tim Keogh, PhD, who teaches postgraduate managerial communications at The Citadel School of Business Administration in Charleston, S.C., and Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, offers a unique perspective to hospitalists who are often accustomed to learning only from those within the specialty.

 

Young Specialty Grows Leaders

The Leadership Academy’s origins stem from HM’s youthful roots; the average age of a hospitalist is 40, and the average age of a hospitalist leader is 43, according to SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of the Hospital Medicine Movement.” Unlike more established medical fields, HM is in the unique position of cultivating the first generation of the specialty’s leadership. Through mentorship and motivation, the academy is arming hospitalists with the tools they’ll need to become leaders in a still-developing field.

Individuals within HM benefit from leadership training, too. “I see Leadership Academy as filling a real void in hospital medicine,” Dr. George says. “We’re still a young profession. We don’t have a lot of gray hair in the field, but we’re in the unusual position to work closely with hospital administrators.”

That paradigm means hospitalists have to learn to speak the language of administration, she says. And they need to learn it quick if they want to create real change and value. For Dr. George, who sees the academy’s impact from the hospitalist and executive perspectives, the academy prepares hospitalists to fill a necessary role in the hospital.

“As a relatively new profession, we still have to prove ourselves on a regular basis,” she says. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Updates

Southwest Wisconsin Chapter

Hospitalists from five HM groups met May 7 in Madison. Julia Wright, MD, FHM, clinical associate professor of medicine and director of hospital medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, spoke about “The State of Hospital Medicine.” Her presentation included an exploration of factors that influence and drive the specialty, as well as a look at HM demographics.

 

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met April 7 at the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in Reno. The 36 attendees represented five HM groups. The meeting topic was “Difficult Decisions in Anticoagulation,” with guest speaker Christine Tankersley, PharmD, from Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals.

The chapter provided Tankersley with several real-patient cases that involved challenging decisions, and she led a step-wise discussion within the context of new American College of Clinial Pharmacy guidelines for anticoagulation.

Chapter President Phil Goodman, MD, FHM, stressed the importance of joining SHM and attending the annual meeting. It was decided to continue the community SHM journal club, which enjoyed a successful debut in September 2008, with 15 attendees reviewing a pair of New England Journal of Medicine articles at P.F. Chang’s in Reno.

Annual chapter elections were planned for the next meeting.

Long Island

The March 19 meeting provided SHM updates on the national meeting, advancement to fellowship opportunities, and a call to encourage HM group leaders to promote SHM membership.

A presentation on antibiotic stewardship revealed data on the improved clinical and economical outcomes of such a program in the hospital setting.

Connecticut

Joseph Ming-Wah Li, MD, FHM, director of the hospital medicine program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an SHM board member, spoke at the March 25 chapter meeting. He discussed the exponential growth of HM as a specialty and reviewed data on hospitalist numbers past, present, and future.

Dr. Li also analyzed data from SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of Hospital Medicine,” and provided benchmarks for hospitalist productivity, night scheduling, administrative work, use of physician extenders, and residents.

Dr. Li’s talk was followed by a presentation on billing-capture software by Courtney Shickel from Ingenious Med Company. The demonstration touted the benefits of using the software for charge capture and some quality measures. The data showed the software can increase hospital revenues within 30 to 60 days of implementation, and lost charges were almost completely mitigated.

Upstate South Carolina

The March 19 meeting brought together nearly 20 attendees representing five hospitals in upstate South Carolina. Bruce Friedman, MD, of Doctor’s Hospital presented information on doripenem (Doribax).

Following the presentation, chapter President Imran Shaikh, MD, a hospitalist with Inpatient Medicine Service, directed the business meeting. Members discussed development of a chapter newsletter as well as an online forum to allow discussion of clinical and administrative issues.

Sanjeev Kumar, MD, a hospitalist with Hospital Medicine Consultants, will query members as to which portal would be most accessible to members, then proceed with establishing the forum.

Georgia Coastal

The April 16 chapter meeting featured SHM board member and president-elect Jeff Wiese, MD, FHM, speaking on the direction of HM and the progress of a board certification in hospital medicine.

This meeting was well attended by SHM members, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

For hospitalists attending SHM’s Leadership Academy, the final day isn’t the end of the experience. It’s just the beginning.

Now in its fifth year, the Leadership Academy provides hospitalists of all backgrounds the opportunity to come together and address the managerial and practical issues of HM that aren’t covered in medical school. The demand for leadership training within the specialty has been so great that the Leadership Academy is now split into two levels; Level II is reserved for hospitalists who have completed the Level I program or have an MBA.

Level I covers the fundamental elements for leading groups—and change—within a hospital. Hospitalists learn how to take on leadership roles, better understand group dynamics, manage conflict, and improve communication.

Level II, which traditionally has had smaller class sizes, goes deeper into managerial issues that relate to hospital administration and leadership. The advanced program features such all-day sessions as “Financial Storytelling” and the popular “Meta-Leadership in Hospital Medicine.”

Leadership Academy’s true impact is felt shortly after hospitalists return to their hospitals. “Hospitalists send e-mails within a week of the end of Leadership Academy,” says Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, CEO of SHM. “They tell us about the tangible actions that they’ve already taken as a result of what they’ve learned over the four days of Leadership Academy. … In just a few days, hospitalists learn from some of the best in the specialty and thought leaders outside of the field, too.”

Immediate Results

Hospitalists—and those who work with them—often see the change the academy has on a physician soon after the attendee returns to work. “It’s like a light bulb goes on,” says Rachel George, MD, regional medical director and vice president for operations at Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. “They get it. They come back from the Leadership Academy with an understanding of how to lead their own groups and manage through change.”

Dr. George, who attended Level I and Level II programs and now facilitates academy sessions, says Leadership Academy is “almost mandatory” for Cogent’s medical directors. The company encourages all of its physicians to attend.

One of the most valuable aspects of the program, she says, is the long-term impact. Dr. George completed the advanced course in 2005 and still enjoys catching up with her fellow academy attendees, as well as learning about what they have achieved in the subsequent years. Many classmates have become medical directors, and she says they credit the academy for many of the positive changes in their groups.

“It’s absolutely worth it,” she says. “Both levels are worth the time and investment. And ‘leadership’ doesn’t necessarily mean being a leader of your group. It can also mean being a leader of change and initiatives within the hospital.”

WENDY HOLDEN/ISTOCKPHOTO

Active Training for Active Leaders

Although the word “academy” might conjure ideas of long-winded seminars or Socratic debate, SHM’s Leadership Academy emphasizes a hands-on learning style. Hospitalists are divided into groups to tackle real-world issues that affect hospitals, hospitalists, and patients, such as QI initiatives and ED throughput.

The courses feature some of the most engaging speakers in HM and insightful presentations from experts outside of the specialty.

The faculty also includes nonphysicians; for example, Tim Keogh, PhD, who teaches postgraduate managerial communications at The Citadel School of Business Administration in Charleston, S.C., and Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, offers a unique perspective to hospitalists who are often accustomed to learning only from those within the specialty.

 

Young Specialty Grows Leaders

The Leadership Academy’s origins stem from HM’s youthful roots; the average age of a hospitalist is 40, and the average age of a hospitalist leader is 43, according to SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of the Hospital Medicine Movement.” Unlike more established medical fields, HM is in the unique position of cultivating the first generation of the specialty’s leadership. Through mentorship and motivation, the academy is arming hospitalists with the tools they’ll need to become leaders in a still-developing field.

Individuals within HM benefit from leadership training, too. “I see Leadership Academy as filling a real void in hospital medicine,” Dr. George says. “We’re still a young profession. We don’t have a lot of gray hair in the field, but we’re in the unusual position to work closely with hospital administrators.”

That paradigm means hospitalists have to learn to speak the language of administration, she says. And they need to learn it quick if they want to create real change and value. For Dr. George, who sees the academy’s impact from the hospitalist and executive perspectives, the academy prepares hospitalists to fill a necessary role in the hospital.

“As a relatively new profession, we still have to prove ourselves on a regular basis,” she says. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Updates

Southwest Wisconsin Chapter

Hospitalists from five HM groups met May 7 in Madison. Julia Wright, MD, FHM, clinical associate professor of medicine and director of hospital medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, spoke about “The State of Hospital Medicine.” Her presentation included an exploration of factors that influence and drive the specialty, as well as a look at HM demographics.

 

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met April 7 at the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in Reno. The 36 attendees represented five HM groups. The meeting topic was “Difficult Decisions in Anticoagulation,” with guest speaker Christine Tankersley, PharmD, from Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals.

The chapter provided Tankersley with several real-patient cases that involved challenging decisions, and she led a step-wise discussion within the context of new American College of Clinial Pharmacy guidelines for anticoagulation.

Chapter President Phil Goodman, MD, FHM, stressed the importance of joining SHM and attending the annual meeting. It was decided to continue the community SHM journal club, which enjoyed a successful debut in September 2008, with 15 attendees reviewing a pair of New England Journal of Medicine articles at P.F. Chang’s in Reno.

Annual chapter elections were planned for the next meeting.

Long Island

The March 19 meeting provided SHM updates on the national meeting, advancement to fellowship opportunities, and a call to encourage HM group leaders to promote SHM membership.

A presentation on antibiotic stewardship revealed data on the improved clinical and economical outcomes of such a program in the hospital setting.

Connecticut

Joseph Ming-Wah Li, MD, FHM, director of the hospital medicine program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an SHM board member, spoke at the March 25 chapter meeting. He discussed the exponential growth of HM as a specialty and reviewed data on hospitalist numbers past, present, and future.

Dr. Li also analyzed data from SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of Hospital Medicine,” and provided benchmarks for hospitalist productivity, night scheduling, administrative work, use of physician extenders, and residents.

Dr. Li’s talk was followed by a presentation on billing-capture software by Courtney Shickel from Ingenious Med Company. The demonstration touted the benefits of using the software for charge capture and some quality measures. The data showed the software can increase hospital revenues within 30 to 60 days of implementation, and lost charges were almost completely mitigated.

Upstate South Carolina

The March 19 meeting brought together nearly 20 attendees representing five hospitals in upstate South Carolina. Bruce Friedman, MD, of Doctor’s Hospital presented information on doripenem (Doribax).

Following the presentation, chapter President Imran Shaikh, MD, a hospitalist with Inpatient Medicine Service, directed the business meeting. Members discussed development of a chapter newsletter as well as an online forum to allow discussion of clinical and administrative issues.

Sanjeev Kumar, MD, a hospitalist with Hospital Medicine Consultants, will query members as to which portal would be most accessible to members, then proceed with establishing the forum.

Georgia Coastal

The April 16 chapter meeting featured SHM board member and president-elect Jeff Wiese, MD, FHM, speaking on the direction of HM and the progress of a board certification in hospital medicine.

This meeting was well attended by SHM members, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners.

For hospitalists attending SHM’s Leadership Academy, the final day isn’t the end of the experience. It’s just the beginning.

Now in its fifth year, the Leadership Academy provides hospitalists of all backgrounds the opportunity to come together and address the managerial and practical issues of HM that aren’t covered in medical school. The demand for leadership training within the specialty has been so great that the Leadership Academy is now split into two levels; Level II is reserved for hospitalists who have completed the Level I program or have an MBA.

Level I covers the fundamental elements for leading groups—and change—within a hospital. Hospitalists learn how to take on leadership roles, better understand group dynamics, manage conflict, and improve communication.

Level II, which traditionally has had smaller class sizes, goes deeper into managerial issues that relate to hospital administration and leadership. The advanced program features such all-day sessions as “Financial Storytelling” and the popular “Meta-Leadership in Hospital Medicine.”

Leadership Academy’s true impact is felt shortly after hospitalists return to their hospitals. “Hospitalists send e-mails within a week of the end of Leadership Academy,” says Larry Wellikson, MD, FHM, CEO of SHM. “They tell us about the tangible actions that they’ve already taken as a result of what they’ve learned over the four days of Leadership Academy. … In just a few days, hospitalists learn from some of the best in the specialty and thought leaders outside of the field, too.”

Immediate Results

Hospitalists—and those who work with them—often see the change the academy has on a physician soon after the attendee returns to work. “It’s like a light bulb goes on,” says Rachel George, MD, regional medical director and vice president for operations at Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. “They get it. They come back from the Leadership Academy with an understanding of how to lead their own groups and manage through change.”

Dr. George, who attended Level I and Level II programs and now facilitates academy sessions, says Leadership Academy is “almost mandatory” for Cogent’s medical directors. The company encourages all of its physicians to attend.

One of the most valuable aspects of the program, she says, is the long-term impact. Dr. George completed the advanced course in 2005 and still enjoys catching up with her fellow academy attendees, as well as learning about what they have achieved in the subsequent years. Many classmates have become medical directors, and she says they credit the academy for many of the positive changes in their groups.

“It’s absolutely worth it,” she says. “Both levels are worth the time and investment. And ‘leadership’ doesn’t necessarily mean being a leader of your group. It can also mean being a leader of change and initiatives within the hospital.”

WENDY HOLDEN/ISTOCKPHOTO

Active Training for Active Leaders

Although the word “academy” might conjure ideas of long-winded seminars or Socratic debate, SHM’s Leadership Academy emphasizes a hands-on learning style. Hospitalists are divided into groups to tackle real-world issues that affect hospitals, hospitalists, and patients, such as QI initiatives and ED throughput.

The courses feature some of the most engaging speakers in HM and insightful presentations from experts outside of the specialty.

The faculty also includes nonphysicians; for example, Tim Keogh, PhD, who teaches postgraduate managerial communications at The Citadel School of Business Administration in Charleston, S.C., and Tulane University’s School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine in New Orleans, offers a unique perspective to hospitalists who are often accustomed to learning only from those within the specialty.

 

Young Specialty Grows Leaders

The Leadership Academy’s origins stem from HM’s youthful roots; the average age of a hospitalist is 40, and the average age of a hospitalist leader is 43, according to SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of the Hospital Medicine Movement.” Unlike more established medical fields, HM is in the unique position of cultivating the first generation of the specialty’s leadership. Through mentorship and motivation, the academy is arming hospitalists with the tools they’ll need to become leaders in a still-developing field.

Individuals within HM benefit from leadership training, too. “I see Leadership Academy as filling a real void in hospital medicine,” Dr. George says. “We’re still a young profession. We don’t have a lot of gray hair in the field, but we’re in the unusual position to work closely with hospital administrators.”

That paradigm means hospitalists have to learn to speak the language of administration, she says. And they need to learn it quick if they want to create real change and value. For Dr. George, who sees the academy’s impact from the hospitalist and executive perspectives, the academy prepares hospitalists to fill a necessary role in the hospital.

“As a relatively new profession, we still have to prove ourselves on a regular basis,” she says. TH

Brendon Shank is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia.

Chapter Updates

Southwest Wisconsin Chapter

Hospitalists from five HM groups met May 7 in Madison. Julia Wright, MD, FHM, clinical associate professor of medicine and director of hospital medicine at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in Madison, spoke about “The State of Hospital Medicine.” Her presentation included an exploration of factors that influence and drive the specialty, as well as a look at HM demographics.

 

Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada chapter met April 7 at the Charlie Palmer Steakhouse in Reno. The 36 attendees represented five HM groups. The meeting topic was “Difficult Decisions in Anticoagulation,” with guest speaker Christine Tankersley, PharmD, from Sanofi-Aventis Pharmaceuticals.

The chapter provided Tankersley with several real-patient cases that involved challenging decisions, and she led a step-wise discussion within the context of new American College of Clinial Pharmacy guidelines for anticoagulation.

Chapter President Phil Goodman, MD, FHM, stressed the importance of joining SHM and attending the annual meeting. It was decided to continue the community SHM journal club, which enjoyed a successful debut in September 2008, with 15 attendees reviewing a pair of New England Journal of Medicine articles at P.F. Chang’s in Reno.

Annual chapter elections were planned for the next meeting.

Long Island

The March 19 meeting provided SHM updates on the national meeting, advancement to fellowship opportunities, and a call to encourage HM group leaders to promote SHM membership.

A presentation on antibiotic stewardship revealed data on the improved clinical and economical outcomes of such a program in the hospital setting.

Connecticut

Joseph Ming-Wah Li, MD, FHM, director of the hospital medicine program at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and an SHM board member, spoke at the March 25 chapter meeting. He discussed the exponential growth of HM as a specialty and reviewed data on hospitalist numbers past, present, and future.

Dr. Li also analyzed data from SHM’s 2007-2008 “Bi-Annual Survey on the State of Hospital Medicine,” and provided benchmarks for hospitalist productivity, night scheduling, administrative work, use of physician extenders, and residents.

Dr. Li’s talk was followed by a presentation on billing-capture software by Courtney Shickel from Ingenious Med Company. The demonstration touted the benefits of using the software for charge capture and some quality measures. The data showed the software can increase hospital revenues within 30 to 60 days of implementation, and lost charges were almost completely mitigated.

Upstate South Carolina

The March 19 meeting brought together nearly 20 attendees representing five hospitals in upstate South Carolina. Bruce Friedman, MD, of Doctor’s Hospital presented information on doripenem (Doribax).

Following the presentation, chapter President Imran Shaikh, MD, a hospitalist with Inpatient Medicine Service, directed the business meeting. Members discussed development of a chapter newsletter as well as an online forum to allow discussion of clinical and administrative issues.

Sanjeev Kumar, MD, a hospitalist with Hospital Medicine Consultants, will query members as to which portal would be most accessible to members, then proceed with establishing the forum.

Georgia Coastal

The April 16 chapter meeting featured SHM board member and president-elect Jeff Wiese, MD, FHM, speaking on the direction of HM and the progress of a board certification in hospital medicine.

This meeting was well attended by SHM members, including physician assistants and nurse practitioners.