Richard Quinn

LAS VEGAS—For the next two and a half days at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, some 3,000 hospitalists attending SHM’s annual meeting will have 10 learning tracks and 115 educational sessions to choose from. Which raises a good question: How does a hospitalist make the difficult choice between two sessions of interest that are scheduled at the same time?

“What’s guiding me is: What’s more relevant to what I’m doing?” says hospitalist and first-time attendee Uzoeshi Anukam, MD, of Methodist Mansfield Medical Center in Texas. “What’s more relevant to my patient care? I see a lot of chest pain, so I’m going to jump on chest pain [sessions]. It’s relevant for me.”

The smorgasbord of educational tracks, rapid-fire sessions, and small-group workshops is a recipe for conflict, though. Multiple sessions could offer similar relevance.

“It’s pick your poison, sort of,” says Curt Lawrence, MD, a hospitalist who does locums tenens work in Miami. “To me, most of the topics are pretty interesting and informative. It’s a good problem to have, wanting to go to multiple things.”

Dr. Lawrence says SHM’s online repository of presentations, podcasts, and on-demand videos helps to fill the gaps when he misses a session. And Dr. Anukam says the HM14 At Hand application for smartphones and tablets assists in winnowing down choices and setting goals for which sessions to attend.

“Objectives put things in perspective and guide what things to go to,” Dr. Lawrence says. “My goal is to get as much as information as you can. As a hospitalist, it’s go-go-go-go. I want to spend this time to just stop and get information.”

LAS VEGAS—For the next two and a half days at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, some 3,000 hospitalists attending SHM’s annual meeting will have 10 learning tracks and 115 educational sessions to choose from. Which raises a good question: How does a hospitalist make the difficult choice between two sessions of interest that are scheduled at the same time?

“What’s guiding me is: What’s more relevant to what I’m doing?” says hospitalist and first-time attendee Uzoeshi Anukam, MD, of Methodist Mansfield Medical Center in Texas. “What’s more relevant to my patient care? I see a lot of chest pain, so I’m going to jump on chest pain [sessions]. It’s relevant for me.”

The smorgasbord of educational tracks, rapid-fire sessions, and small-group workshops is a recipe for conflict, though. Multiple sessions could offer similar relevance.

“It’s pick your poison, sort of,” says Curt Lawrence, MD, a hospitalist who does locums tenens work in Miami. “To me, most of the topics are pretty interesting and informative. It’s a good problem to have, wanting to go to multiple things.”

Dr. Lawrence says SHM’s online repository of presentations, podcasts, and on-demand videos helps to fill the gaps when he misses a session. And Dr. Anukam says the HM14 At Hand application for smartphones and tablets assists in winnowing down choices and setting goals for which sessions to attend.

“Objectives put things in perspective and guide what things to go to,” Dr. Lawrence says. “My goal is to get as much as information as you can. As a hospitalist, it’s go-go-go-go. I want to spend this time to just stop and get information.”

LAS VEGAS—For the next two and a half days at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino, some 3,000 hospitalists attending SHM’s annual meeting will have 10 learning tracks and 115 educational sessions to choose from. Which raises a good question: How does a hospitalist make the difficult choice between two sessions of interest that are scheduled at the same time?

“What’s guiding me is: What’s more relevant to what I’m doing?” says hospitalist and first-time attendee Uzoeshi Anukam, MD, of Methodist Mansfield Medical Center in Texas. “What’s more relevant to my patient care? I see a lot of chest pain, so I’m going to jump on chest pain [sessions]. It’s relevant for me.”

The smorgasbord of educational tracks, rapid-fire sessions, and small-group workshops is a recipe for conflict, though. Multiple sessions could offer similar relevance.

“It’s pick your poison, sort of,” says Curt Lawrence, MD, a hospitalist who does locums tenens work in Miami. “To me, most of the topics are pretty interesting and informative. It’s a good problem to have, wanting to go to multiple things.”

Dr. Lawrence says SHM’s online repository of presentations, podcasts, and on-demand videos helps to fill the gaps when he misses a session. And Dr. Anukam says the HM14 At Hand application for smartphones and tablets assists in winnowing down choices and setting goals for which sessions to attend.

“Objectives put things in perspective and guide what things to go to,” Dr. Lawrence says. “My goal is to get as much as information as you can. As a hospitalist, it’s go-go-go-go. I want to spend this time to just stop and get information.”

LAS VEGAS—Welcome to HM14! Now, let's get to work.

While most visitors that arrive at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino are up for fun and frolicking, the nearly 3,000 hospitalists expected to attend this year’s HM confab are here for education and inspiration. And the meeting's slate of sessions, speakers, and mental stimulation is expected to provide both.

"What you're getting are those thought leaders, as well as the academics, as well as real-life business education, all in one area," says Darren Swenson MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas and founder of the city's SHM chapter. "And when you're able to choose your tracks to identify those programs that are of interest to you at that point in your career, it makes it very attractive."

Here are five tips to get the most out of your meeting:

• Think ahead and design a daily itinerary to take advantage of courses applicable back home, but don't be a slave to a schedule. Be open to changing course when opportunities for a meeting or event arise.




• Don't skip the keynotes. Whether it's a new panel discussion on Obamacare, an address by health strategist Ian Morrison, PhD, or the annual crowd pleaser from hospital medicine dean and blogger Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, the plenary sessions feature industry leaders’ views on important and compelling topics.




• Step outside your comfort zone. Reinforcing knowledge is certainly important, but course directors always encourage attendees to seize the opportunity to learn new skills.




• Network, network, network. There is no larger gathering of your colleagues than the annual meeting, so take advantage.




• Don't forget the Town Hall. For those planning to attend the meeting’s final session, the Town Hall is a chance to talk directly to SHM’s top staff and its board of directors.

Visit our website for more on making the most of HM14.

LAS VEGAS—Welcome to HM14! Now, let's get to work.

While most visitors that arrive at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino are up for fun and frolicking, the nearly 3,000 hospitalists expected to attend this year’s HM confab are here for education and inspiration. And the meeting's slate of sessions, speakers, and mental stimulation is expected to provide both.

"What you're getting are those thought leaders, as well as the academics, as well as real-life business education, all in one area," says Darren Swenson MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas and founder of the city's SHM chapter. "And when you're able to choose your tracks to identify those programs that are of interest to you at that point in your career, it makes it very attractive."

Here are five tips to get the most out of your meeting:

• Think ahead and design a daily itinerary to take advantage of courses applicable back home, but don't be a slave to a schedule. Be open to changing course when opportunities for a meeting or event arise.




• Don't skip the keynotes. Whether it's a new panel discussion on Obamacare, an address by health strategist Ian Morrison, PhD, or the annual crowd pleaser from hospital medicine dean and blogger Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, the plenary sessions feature industry leaders’ views on important and compelling topics.




• Step outside your comfort zone. Reinforcing knowledge is certainly important, but course directors always encourage attendees to seize the opportunity to learn new skills.




• Network, network, network. There is no larger gathering of your colleagues than the annual meeting, so take advantage.




• Don't forget the Town Hall. For those planning to attend the meeting’s final session, the Town Hall is a chance to talk directly to SHM’s top staff and its board of directors.

Visit our website for more on making the most of HM14.

LAS VEGAS—Welcome to HM14! Now, let's get to work.

While most visitors that arrive at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino are up for fun and frolicking, the nearly 3,000 hospitalists expected to attend this year’s HM confab are here for education and inspiration. And the meeting's slate of sessions, speakers, and mental stimulation is expected to provide both.

"What you're getting are those thought leaders, as well as the academics, as well as real-life business education, all in one area," says Darren Swenson MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas and founder of the city's SHM chapter. "And when you're able to choose your tracks to identify those programs that are of interest to you at that point in your career, it makes it very attractive."

Here are five tips to get the most out of your meeting:

• Think ahead and design a daily itinerary to take advantage of courses applicable back home, but don't be a slave to a schedule. Be open to changing course when opportunities for a meeting or event arise.




• Don't skip the keynotes. Whether it's a new panel discussion on Obamacare, an address by health strategist Ian Morrison, PhD, or the annual crowd pleaser from hospital medicine dean and blogger Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, the plenary sessions feature industry leaders’ views on important and compelling topics.




• Step outside your comfort zone. Reinforcing knowledge is certainly important, but course directors always encourage attendees to seize the opportunity to learn new skills.




• Network, network, network. There is no larger gathering of your colleagues than the annual meeting, so take advantage.




• Don't forget the Town Hall. For those planning to attend the meeting’s final session, the Town Hall is a chance to talk directly to SHM’s top staff and its board of directors.

Visit our website for more on making the most of HM14.

LAS VEGAS – Now that you're here, focus on the valuable opportunities that HM14 offers. Well, until dusk. Then get out of the hotel and focus on the opportunities that are Las Vegas.

The fun isn't just the famed Strip, says Zubin Damania, MD, founder of Turntable Health in Las Vegas, who might be better known for his comedic alter ego, ZDoggMD. It's the lesser-known side of Las Vegas, known locally as "downtown."

"When I have friends in town, I tell them not to go to the Strip and to come hang out with me downtown or in the suburbs of Vegas—where the real fun is to be had," says Dr. Damania, even though he realizes he can't tell that to 3,000 "rabid hospitalists looking to relive 'The Hangover 3.'"

His recommendations include:

• Chinatown. The district is along Spring Mountain Road, about four miles north of Mandalay Bay, and includes several enclosed shopping malls. Restaurants to try include Raku, which specializes in Japanese food, and Kabuto, which has "the best sushi" ZDoggMD's ever had.




• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Breathtaking views and hiking opportunities abound in natural Nevada.




• The Zappos factory. A tour of the firm’s downtown headquarters showcases the mindset of the millennial generation and potential lessons on workplace attitude that can be applied to HM.




• Turntable Health. Dr. Damania’s clinic is open to any hospitalists curious to visit. If you want to set up a tour, or want more personalized advice on what to do while in town, e-mail him at [email protected].

Visit our website for more of ZDoggMD's recommendations.

LAS VEGAS – Now that you're here, focus on the valuable opportunities that HM14 offers. Well, until dusk. Then get out of the hotel and focus on the opportunities that are Las Vegas.

The fun isn't just the famed Strip, says Zubin Damania, MD, founder of Turntable Health in Las Vegas, who might be better known for his comedic alter ego, ZDoggMD. It's the lesser-known side of Las Vegas, known locally as "downtown."

"When I have friends in town, I tell them not to go to the Strip and to come hang out with me downtown or in the suburbs of Vegas—where the real fun is to be had," says Dr. Damania, even though he realizes he can't tell that to 3,000 "rabid hospitalists looking to relive 'The Hangover 3.'"

His recommendations include:

• Chinatown. The district is along Spring Mountain Road, about four miles north of Mandalay Bay, and includes several enclosed shopping malls. Restaurants to try include Raku, which specializes in Japanese food, and Kabuto, which has "the best sushi" ZDoggMD's ever had.




• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Breathtaking views and hiking opportunities abound in natural Nevada.




• The Zappos factory. A tour of the firm’s downtown headquarters showcases the mindset of the millennial generation and potential lessons on workplace attitude that can be applied to HM.




• Turntable Health. Dr. Damania’s clinic is open to any hospitalists curious to visit. If you want to set up a tour, or want more personalized advice on what to do while in town, e-mail him at [email protected].

Visit our website for more of ZDoggMD's recommendations.

LAS VEGAS – Now that you're here, focus on the valuable opportunities that HM14 offers. Well, until dusk. Then get out of the hotel and focus on the opportunities that are Las Vegas.

The fun isn't just the famed Strip, says Zubin Damania, MD, founder of Turntable Health in Las Vegas, who might be better known for his comedic alter ego, ZDoggMD. It's the lesser-known side of Las Vegas, known locally as "downtown."

"When I have friends in town, I tell them not to go to the Strip and to come hang out with me downtown or in the suburbs of Vegas—where the real fun is to be had," says Dr. Damania, even though he realizes he can't tell that to 3,000 "rabid hospitalists looking to relive 'The Hangover 3.'"

His recommendations include:

• Chinatown. The district is along Spring Mountain Road, about four miles north of Mandalay Bay, and includes several enclosed shopping malls. Restaurants to try include Raku, which specializes in Japanese food, and Kabuto, which has "the best sushi" ZDoggMD's ever had.




• Red Rock Canyon National Conservation Area. Breathtaking views and hiking opportunities abound in natural Nevada.




• The Zappos factory. A tour of the firm’s downtown headquarters showcases the mindset of the millennial generation and potential lessons on workplace attitude that can be applied to HM.




• Turntable Health. Dr. Damania’s clinic is open to any hospitalists curious to visit. If you want to set up a tour, or want more personalized advice on what to do while in town, e-mail him at [email protected].

Visit our website for more of ZDoggMD's recommendations.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report this month on antibiotic stewardship highlights the need for continued attention and improvement around the topic, says a hospitalist who has studied the issue.

The CDC announcement, "Antibiotic Rx in Hospitals: Proceed with Caution," circulated in its monthly report, CDC Vital Signs, urged hospital leaders to adopt at least a basic stewardship program and "work with other healthcare facilities to prevent infections, transmission, and resistance."

David Rosenberg, MD, MPH, FACP, SFHM, chief of the division of hospital medicine at North Shore University Hospital's department of medicine in Manhasset, N.Y., says the alert can serve as a spotlight.

"While we all agree that this is an important topic, there's a certain amount of inertia around it," Dr. Rosenberg says. "When the CDC comes out with statements like this, it really helps drive this forward. It really should be viewed as a call to action."

The CDC alert highlights the variability of antibiotic use. It notes that doctors in some hospitals prescribed three times as many antibiotics as doctors at others. The disparity in treatment standards makes stewardship a broad issue to tackle, Dr. Rosenberg says.

"It's not a simple fix," he adds. "You have to do it one piece at a time. How are you going to manage urinary-tract infections? How are you going to manage pneumonias? How are you going to manage bloodstream infections? We want ultimately to integrate the approach into the day-to-day practice of hospitalists, but there's a lot of data you need in a very organized format to inform those decisions. Stewardship programs organize the information in a way that can influence and change practice."

Visit our website for more information on antibiotic stewardship.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report this month on antibiotic stewardship highlights the need for continued attention and improvement around the topic, says a hospitalist who has studied the issue.

The CDC announcement, "Antibiotic Rx in Hospitals: Proceed with Caution," circulated in its monthly report, CDC Vital Signs, urged hospital leaders to adopt at least a basic stewardship program and "work with other healthcare facilities to prevent infections, transmission, and resistance."

David Rosenberg, MD, MPH, FACP, SFHM, chief of the division of hospital medicine at North Shore University Hospital's department of medicine in Manhasset, N.Y., says the alert can serve as a spotlight.

"While we all agree that this is an important topic, there's a certain amount of inertia around it," Dr. Rosenberg says. "When the CDC comes out with statements like this, it really helps drive this forward. It really should be viewed as a call to action."

The CDC alert highlights the variability of antibiotic use. It notes that doctors in some hospitals prescribed three times as many antibiotics as doctors at others. The disparity in treatment standards makes stewardship a broad issue to tackle, Dr. Rosenberg says.

"It's not a simple fix," he adds. "You have to do it one piece at a time. How are you going to manage urinary-tract infections? How are you going to manage pneumonias? How are you going to manage bloodstream infections? We want ultimately to integrate the approach into the day-to-day practice of hospitalists, but there's a lot of data you need in a very organized format to inform those decisions. Stewardship programs organize the information in a way that can influence and change practice."

Visit our website for more information on antibiotic stewardship.

A Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report this month on antibiotic stewardship highlights the need for continued attention and improvement around the topic, says a hospitalist who has studied the issue.

The CDC announcement, "Antibiotic Rx in Hospitals: Proceed with Caution," circulated in its monthly report, CDC Vital Signs, urged hospital leaders to adopt at least a basic stewardship program and "work with other healthcare facilities to prevent infections, transmission, and resistance."

David Rosenberg, MD, MPH, FACP, SFHM, chief of the division of hospital medicine at North Shore University Hospital's department of medicine in Manhasset, N.Y., says the alert can serve as a spotlight.

"While we all agree that this is an important topic, there's a certain amount of inertia around it," Dr. Rosenberg says. "When the CDC comes out with statements like this, it really helps drive this forward. It really should be viewed as a call to action."

The CDC alert highlights the variability of antibiotic use. It notes that doctors in some hospitals prescribed three times as many antibiotics as doctors at others. The disparity in treatment standards makes stewardship a broad issue to tackle, Dr. Rosenberg says.

"It's not a simple fix," he adds. "You have to do it one piece at a time. How are you going to manage urinary-tract infections? How are you going to manage pneumonias? How are you going to manage bloodstream infections? We want ultimately to integrate the approach into the day-to-day practice of hospitalists, but there's a lot of data you need in a very organized format to inform those decisions. Stewardship programs organize the information in a way that can influence and change practice."

Visit our website for more information on antibiotic stewardship.

A Journal of Hospital Medicine study billed as the first of its kind found that patients who had received chronic opioid therapy (COT) in the six months prior to admission were more likely to either die in the hospital within 30 days or be readmitted.

The report, "Prevalence and Characteristics of Hospitalized Adults on Chronic Opioid Therapy," found that after adjustments, COT was associated with higher rates of hospital readmission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–1.20) and death (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10–1.29). The observational study—conducted on veterans with acute medical conditions admitted to Veterans Administration hospitals between 2009 and 2011—found that 25.9% had received COT in the six months prior to admission.

Hospitalist and lead author Hilary Mosher, MD, of the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Des Moines, says that as COT use increases and the HM model expands, hospitalists should know more about how to treat these patients. "I can't imagine being a hospitalist practicing anywhere in the United States and not seeing these patients on a fairly regular basis," she adds.

Dr. Mosher says hospitalists could view COT similar to diabetes: while chronic pain is a condition managed primarily on an outpatient basis, hospitalists might see better outcomes if they address it as a condition that "affects how we care for patients during the inpatient stay." To that end, she is surprised that this study is the first to report the prevalence of, and characteristics associated with, prior opioid use among inpatients.

"We can't make claims [from this study] to answer [the question of] if we are over-treating or under-treating pain during the hospital stay," Dr. Mosher adds. "One of the really interesting things I'm looking forward to finding out is how will people respond to the idea that...chronic pain is a disease where what we do during the hospital stay matters to the eventual course."

Visit our website for more information on hospitalists and chronic pain management.

A Journal of Hospital Medicine study billed as the first of its kind found that patients who had received chronic opioid therapy (COT) in the six months prior to admission were more likely to either die in the hospital within 30 days or be readmitted.

The report, "Prevalence and Characteristics of Hospitalized Adults on Chronic Opioid Therapy," found that after adjustments, COT was associated with higher rates of hospital readmission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–1.20) and death (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10–1.29). The observational study—conducted on veterans with acute medical conditions admitted to Veterans Administration hospitals between 2009 and 2011—found that 25.9% had received COT in the six months prior to admission.

Hospitalist and lead author Hilary Mosher, MD, of the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Des Moines, says that as COT use increases and the HM model expands, hospitalists should know more about how to treat these patients. "I can't imagine being a hospitalist practicing anywhere in the United States and not seeing these patients on a fairly regular basis," she adds.

Dr. Mosher says hospitalists could view COT similar to diabetes: while chronic pain is a condition managed primarily on an outpatient basis, hospitalists might see better outcomes if they address it as a condition that "affects how we care for patients during the inpatient stay." To that end, she is surprised that this study is the first to report the prevalence of, and characteristics associated with, prior opioid use among inpatients.

"We can't make claims [from this study] to answer [the question of] if we are over-treating or under-treating pain during the hospital stay," Dr. Mosher adds. "One of the really interesting things I'm looking forward to finding out is how will people respond to the idea that...chronic pain is a disease where what we do during the hospital stay matters to the eventual course."

Visit our website for more information on hospitalists and chronic pain management.

A Journal of Hospital Medicine study billed as the first of its kind found that patients who had received chronic opioid therapy (COT) in the six months prior to admission were more likely to either die in the hospital within 30 days or be readmitted.

The report, "Prevalence and Characteristics of Hospitalized Adults on Chronic Opioid Therapy," found that after adjustments, COT was associated with higher rates of hospital readmission (odds ratio [OR]: 1.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 1.10–1.20) and death (OR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.10–1.29). The observational study—conducted on veterans with acute medical conditions admitted to Veterans Administration hospitals between 2009 and 2011—found that 25.9% had received COT in the six months prior to admission.

Hospitalist and lead author Hilary Mosher, MD, of the Iowa City Veterans Affairs Health Care System in Des Moines, says that as COT use increases and the HM model expands, hospitalists should know more about how to treat these patients. "I can't imagine being a hospitalist practicing anywhere in the United States and not seeing these patients on a fairly regular basis," she adds.

Dr. Mosher says hospitalists could view COT similar to diabetes: while chronic pain is a condition managed primarily on an outpatient basis, hospitalists might see better outcomes if they address it as a condition that "affects how we care for patients during the inpatient stay." To that end, she is surprised that this study is the first to report the prevalence of, and characteristics associated with, prior opioid use among inpatients.

"We can't make claims [from this study] to answer [the question of] if we are over-treating or under-treating pain during the hospital stay," Dr. Mosher adds. "One of the really interesting things I'm looking forward to finding out is how will people respond to the idea that...chronic pain is a disease where what we do during the hospital stay matters to the eventual course."

Visit our website for more information on hospitalists and chronic pain management.

Hospitalists have little choice but to wait and see when it comes to the release by Medicare of information on how much it pays doctors, according to an SHM committee member.

The decision [PDF] by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) to release the data starting in mid-March was long in the making and is aimed at "making Medicare data more transparent and accessible, while maintaining the privacy of beneficiaries," the agency notes on its website.

CMS will respond to individual Freedom of Information Act requests for physician-payment data and generate aggregate data sets regarding Medicare physician services for the public. The agency will make case-by-base decisions on whether to release data and will "weigh the balance between the privacy interest of individual physicians and the public interest in disclosure of such information," according to a notice [PDF] issued last January.

"It all boils down to how the information is released and how the information is going to be interpreted," says SHM Public Policy Committee member Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHM. "Generally, most physician groups are supportive of improving access to information…but that's bounded by having context and privacy issues addressed."

In a letter to Congress [PDF], SHM, the American Medical Association, and others have cautioned that the balancing act is a tricky procedure that must take into account the privacy concerns of both patients and physicians. Dr. Lenchus adds that he is skeptical of creating rules to govern the release of information after announcing the intention to release it.

"It tends to make me feel like the horse is already out of the barn, and now we're going to try to corral him back in to some degree," he says. "The case-by-case standard with which they say they are evaluating the [requests] makes sense, but they haven't really defined what their balancing act will be…if there's fraud, waste, and abuse found, it should, of course, be rooted out, but it's tough to root out that abuse just based on the highest-paid cardiologist in your area."

Visit our website for more information on Medicare payment reform.

Hospitalists have little choice but to wait and see when it comes to the release by Medicare of information on how much it pays doctors, according to an SHM committee member.

The decision [PDF] by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) to release the data starting in mid-March was long in the making and is aimed at "making Medicare data more transparent and accessible, while maintaining the privacy of beneficiaries," the agency notes on its website.

CMS will respond to individual Freedom of Information Act requests for physician-payment data and generate aggregate data sets regarding Medicare physician services for the public. The agency will make case-by-base decisions on whether to release data and will "weigh the balance between the privacy interest of individual physicians and the public interest in disclosure of such information," according to a notice [PDF] issued last January.

"It all boils down to how the information is released and how the information is going to be interpreted," says SHM Public Policy Committee member Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHM. "Generally, most physician groups are supportive of improving access to information…but that's bounded by having context and privacy issues addressed."

In a letter to Congress [PDF], SHM, the American Medical Association, and others have cautioned that the balancing act is a tricky procedure that must take into account the privacy concerns of both patients and physicians. Dr. Lenchus adds that he is skeptical of creating rules to govern the release of information after announcing the intention to release it.

"It tends to make me feel like the horse is already out of the barn, and now we're going to try to corral him back in to some degree," he says. "The case-by-case standard with which they say they are evaluating the [requests] makes sense, but they haven't really defined what their balancing act will be…if there's fraud, waste, and abuse found, it should, of course, be rooted out, but it's tough to root out that abuse just based on the highest-paid cardiologist in your area."

Visit our website for more information on Medicare payment reform.

Hospitalists have little choice but to wait and see when it comes to the release by Medicare of information on how much it pays doctors, according to an SHM committee member.

The decision [PDF] by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Service (CMS) to release the data starting in mid-March was long in the making and is aimed at "making Medicare data more transparent and accessible, while maintaining the privacy of beneficiaries," the agency notes on its website.

CMS will respond to individual Freedom of Information Act requests for physician-payment data and generate aggregate data sets regarding Medicare physician services for the public. The agency will make case-by-base decisions on whether to release data and will "weigh the balance between the privacy interest of individual physicians and the public interest in disclosure of such information," according to a notice [PDF] issued last January.

"It all boils down to how the information is released and how the information is going to be interpreted," says SHM Public Policy Committee member Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHM. "Generally, most physician groups are supportive of improving access to information…but that's bounded by having context and privacy issues addressed."

In a letter to Congress [PDF], SHM, the American Medical Association, and others have cautioned that the balancing act is a tricky procedure that must take into account the privacy concerns of both patients and physicians. Dr. Lenchus adds that he is skeptical of creating rules to govern the release of information after announcing the intention to release it.

"It tends to make me feel like the horse is already out of the barn, and now we're going to try to corral him back in to some degree," he says. "The case-by-case standard with which they say they are evaluating the [requests] makes sense, but they haven't really defined what their balancing act will be…if there's fraud, waste, and abuse found, it should, of course, be rooted out, but it's tough to root out that abuse just based on the highest-paid cardiologist in your area."

Visit our website for more information on Medicare payment reform.

When she isn’t attending to patients or grappling with the latest update to electronic health records (EHR), Midori Larrabee, MD, is getting her hands dirty.

Literally.

Dr. Larrabee, a former hospitalist medical director at the 30-bed Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Wash., and her husband live on 2.5 acres of “paradise” outside of Seattle. They grow their own vegetables and recently planted an orchard. “We hope to get chickens next year,” she says.

“I love cooking and spending time with my husband, enjoying our little paradise,” says Dr. Larrabee, now working full-time as a hospitalist at 349-bed Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash. “I think being a hospitalist will only be sustainable if I have time away from the hospital to think about non-medical issues—like what worm is eating my radishes.”

Leisure-time passions aside, Dr. Larrabee chose HM for many of the same reasons hospitalists around the country do: “a variety of patients, the acuity of care, and the flexibility of the schedule. With half of the month off, I have time for activities other than clinical medicine.”

She considers herself a problem solver, using both sides of the brain to care for patients, mitigate staff schedules, and contribute to quality improvement projects.

“Initially, I was attracted to medicine due to my interest in biochemistry and the physiology of how we function,” says Dr. Larrabee, one of nine new members of Team Hospitalist, the volunteer, editorial advisory group for The Hospitalist. “As I’ve grown up, I started to see the value in being a part of patients/families’ lives during an event like a hospitalization. I can use my knowledge to help guide them, educate them, and, hopefully, reassure them during a time when they may feel helpless.”

Question: How did you decide to become a hospitalist?

Answer: I decided to become a hospitalist during residency. Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases. Also, I liked dealing with sicker patients where more acute decisions had to be made and the results were quickly evident.

Q: Outside of patient care, tell me about your career interests?

A: I am on the P&T committee at (Overlake), and work as part of a team developing projects to improve patient satisfaction during their hospitalization. During the summers I perform evaluations of local medic students at the end of their training program (done through the Seattle Fire Department). I have previously been on the Medical Executive Committee at my smaller hospital and really enjoyed those activities. I would like to be more involved in quality projects at my hospital and hopefully will find some opportunities in the next year.

Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases.

–Dr. Larrabee

Q: What’s the best advice you ever received?

A: Make yourself happy. If you keep coming back to the question “Am I happy?” you can always have a way to center yourself. If you say “Yes,” then you can feel good about where you are in life, even if that wasn’t what you were expecting or planning. If you say “No,” then at least you now know that something needs to change.

Q: What’s the one thing you most dislike about your job?

A: The time spent with the electronic health record. I am spending more time figuring out how to order a therapy, write a note, or sign an order than actually at the bedside interacting with the patient.

Q: What is your biggest professional challenge?

A: My lack of patience. I want to be in more leadership positions, be a respected physician at my hospital, and have a greater role in the community NOW. I have only worked at my larger hospital for about a year, and I know it takes time to get to know everyone, get to know the culture of the hospital, and work my way up the ranks.

Q: What is your biggest professional reward?

A: I love when I really connect with a patient or family and feel like I’ve made a difference. As a hospitalist, it sometimes feels like I am admitting patients with chronic medical problems that will never get better, get them just well enough to leave the hospital, but never really make a difference. When you can really connect, that is always a great reward. An example is an elderly patient I cared for recently. He was clearly dying, but the family was having a hard time accepting his course. I spent time with the family and helped them reconcile their hopes to keep him comfortable with their fears about killing the patriarch of the family. They eventually transitioned the patient to hospice care, and although he did pass away, I feel like I was able to make the patient’s death a little better for the family and for him.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: I always see myself working clinically for at least part of my time. Medicine would get too boring if it wasn’t for the patients. That said, I like a variety of activities and stay motivated when something new is on the horizon. I don’t know if a climb up the ladder is in my future, but if things work out that way, I would be open to the chance. Otherwise, I try and keep my eyes out for new challenges. If I try and plan my path out too much, I will miss those great, unexpected opportunities.

Q: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

A: “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. I love to cook and garden, and this book describes the different edible members of botanical families—and then gives recipes. The book motivates you to try new varieties in the garden and kitchen. The beautiful pictures didn’t hurt, either. Pictures always make a book better.

Q: How many Apple products do you interface with in a given week?

A: One, my iPhone. AppleTV never works right, so we stopped trying to use that months ago.

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

When she isn’t attending to patients or grappling with the latest update to electronic health records (EHR), Midori Larrabee, MD, is getting her hands dirty.

Literally.

Dr. Larrabee, a former hospitalist medical director at the 30-bed Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Wash., and her husband live on 2.5 acres of “paradise” outside of Seattle. They grow their own vegetables and recently planted an orchard. “We hope to get chickens next year,” she says.

“I love cooking and spending time with my husband, enjoying our little paradise,” says Dr. Larrabee, now working full-time as a hospitalist at 349-bed Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash. “I think being a hospitalist will only be sustainable if I have time away from the hospital to think about non-medical issues—like what worm is eating my radishes.”

Leisure-time passions aside, Dr. Larrabee chose HM for many of the same reasons hospitalists around the country do: “a variety of patients, the acuity of care, and the flexibility of the schedule. With half of the month off, I have time for activities other than clinical medicine.”

She considers herself a problem solver, using both sides of the brain to care for patients, mitigate staff schedules, and contribute to quality improvement projects.

“Initially, I was attracted to medicine due to my interest in biochemistry and the physiology of how we function,” says Dr. Larrabee, one of nine new members of Team Hospitalist, the volunteer, editorial advisory group for The Hospitalist. “As I’ve grown up, I started to see the value in being a part of patients/families’ lives during an event like a hospitalization. I can use my knowledge to help guide them, educate them, and, hopefully, reassure them during a time when they may feel helpless.”

Question: How did you decide to become a hospitalist?

Answer: I decided to become a hospitalist during residency. Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases. Also, I liked dealing with sicker patients where more acute decisions had to be made and the results were quickly evident.

Q: Outside of patient care, tell me about your career interests?

A: I am on the P&T committee at (Overlake), and work as part of a team developing projects to improve patient satisfaction during their hospitalization. During the summers I perform evaluations of local medic students at the end of their training program (done through the Seattle Fire Department). I have previously been on the Medical Executive Committee at my smaller hospital and really enjoyed those activities. I would like to be more involved in quality projects at my hospital and hopefully will find some opportunities in the next year.

Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases.

–Dr. Larrabee

Q: What’s the best advice you ever received?

A: Make yourself happy. If you keep coming back to the question “Am I happy?” you can always have a way to center yourself. If you say “Yes,” then you can feel good about where you are in life, even if that wasn’t what you were expecting or planning. If you say “No,” then at least you now know that something needs to change.

Q: What’s the one thing you most dislike about your job?

A: The time spent with the electronic health record. I am spending more time figuring out how to order a therapy, write a note, or sign an order than actually at the bedside interacting with the patient.

Q: What is your biggest professional challenge?

A: My lack of patience. I want to be in more leadership positions, be a respected physician at my hospital, and have a greater role in the community NOW. I have only worked at my larger hospital for about a year, and I know it takes time to get to know everyone, get to know the culture of the hospital, and work my way up the ranks.

Q: What is your biggest professional reward?

A: I love when I really connect with a patient or family and feel like I’ve made a difference. As a hospitalist, it sometimes feels like I am admitting patients with chronic medical problems that will never get better, get them just well enough to leave the hospital, but never really make a difference. When you can really connect, that is always a great reward. An example is an elderly patient I cared for recently. He was clearly dying, but the family was having a hard time accepting his course. I spent time with the family and helped them reconcile their hopes to keep him comfortable with their fears about killing the patriarch of the family. They eventually transitioned the patient to hospice care, and although he did pass away, I feel like I was able to make the patient’s death a little better for the family and for him.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: I always see myself working clinically for at least part of my time. Medicine would get too boring if it wasn’t for the patients. That said, I like a variety of activities and stay motivated when something new is on the horizon. I don’t know if a climb up the ladder is in my future, but if things work out that way, I would be open to the chance. Otherwise, I try and keep my eyes out for new challenges. If I try and plan my path out too much, I will miss those great, unexpected opportunities.

Q: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

A: “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. I love to cook and garden, and this book describes the different edible members of botanical families—and then gives recipes. The book motivates you to try new varieties in the garden and kitchen. The beautiful pictures didn’t hurt, either. Pictures always make a book better.

Q: How many Apple products do you interface with in a given week?

A: One, my iPhone. AppleTV never works right, so we stopped trying to use that months ago.

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

When she isn’t attending to patients or grappling with the latest update to electronic health records (EHR), Midori Larrabee, MD, is getting her hands dirty.

Literally.

Dr. Larrabee, a former hospitalist medical director at the 30-bed Valley General Hospital in Monroe, Wash., and her husband live on 2.5 acres of “paradise” outside of Seattle. They grow their own vegetables and recently planted an orchard. “We hope to get chickens next year,” she says.

“I love cooking and spending time with my husband, enjoying our little paradise,” says Dr. Larrabee, now working full-time as a hospitalist at 349-bed Overlake Medical Center in Bellevue, Wash. “I think being a hospitalist will only be sustainable if I have time away from the hospital to think about non-medical issues—like what worm is eating my radishes.”

Leisure-time passions aside, Dr. Larrabee chose HM for many of the same reasons hospitalists around the country do: “a variety of patients, the acuity of care, and the flexibility of the schedule. With half of the month off, I have time for activities other than clinical medicine.”

She considers herself a problem solver, using both sides of the brain to care for patients, mitigate staff schedules, and contribute to quality improvement projects.

“Initially, I was attracted to medicine due to my interest in biochemistry and the physiology of how we function,” says Dr. Larrabee, one of nine new members of Team Hospitalist, the volunteer, editorial advisory group for The Hospitalist. “As I’ve grown up, I started to see the value in being a part of patients/families’ lives during an event like a hospitalization. I can use my knowledge to help guide them, educate them, and, hopefully, reassure them during a time when they may feel helpless.”

Question: How did you decide to become a hospitalist?

Answer: I decided to become a hospitalist during residency. Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases. Also, I liked dealing with sicker patients where more acute decisions had to be made and the results were quickly evident.

Q: Outside of patient care, tell me about your career interests?

A: I am on the P&T committee at (Overlake), and work as part of a team developing projects to improve patient satisfaction during their hospitalization. During the summers I perform evaluations of local medic students at the end of their training program (done through the Seattle Fire Department). I have previously been on the Medical Executive Committee at my smaller hospital and really enjoyed those activities. I would like to be more involved in quality projects at my hospital and hopefully will find some opportunities in the next year.

Even though the ward months were grueling, I loved being part of an inpatient team and managing the variety of patients that came through the door. I liked all of my subspecialty rotations but didn’t want to lose the ability to manage multiple diseases.

–Dr. Larrabee

Q: What’s the best advice you ever received?

A: Make yourself happy. If you keep coming back to the question “Am I happy?” you can always have a way to center yourself. If you say “Yes,” then you can feel good about where you are in life, even if that wasn’t what you were expecting or planning. If you say “No,” then at least you now know that something needs to change.

Q: What’s the one thing you most dislike about your job?

A: The time spent with the electronic health record. I am spending more time figuring out how to order a therapy, write a note, or sign an order than actually at the bedside interacting with the patient.

Q: What is your biggest professional challenge?

A: My lack of patience. I want to be in more leadership positions, be a respected physician at my hospital, and have a greater role in the community NOW. I have only worked at my larger hospital for about a year, and I know it takes time to get to know everyone, get to know the culture of the hospital, and work my way up the ranks.

Q: What is your biggest professional reward?

A: I love when I really connect with a patient or family and feel like I’ve made a difference. As a hospitalist, it sometimes feels like I am admitting patients with chronic medical problems that will never get better, get them just well enough to leave the hospital, but never really make a difference. When you can really connect, that is always a great reward. An example is an elderly patient I cared for recently. He was clearly dying, but the family was having a hard time accepting his course. I spent time with the family and helped them reconcile their hopes to keep him comfortable with their fears about killing the patriarch of the family. They eventually transitioned the patient to hospice care, and although he did pass away, I feel like I was able to make the patient’s death a little better for the family and for him.

Q: Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

A: I always see myself working clinically for at least part of my time. Medicine would get too boring if it wasn’t for the patients. That said, I like a variety of activities and stay motivated when something new is on the horizon. I don’t know if a climb up the ladder is in my future, but if things work out that way, I would be open to the chance. Otherwise, I try and keep my eyes out for new challenges. If I try and plan my path out too much, I will miss those great, unexpected opportunities.

Q: What’s the best book you’ve read recently?

A: “Vegetable Literacy” by Deborah Madison. I love to cook and garden, and this book describes the different edible members of botanical families—and then gives recipes. The book motivates you to try new varieties in the garden and kitchen. The beautiful pictures didn’t hurt, either. Pictures always make a book better.

Q: How many Apple products do you interface with in a given week?

A: One, my iPhone. AppleTV never works right, so we stopped trying to use that months ago.

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

A new white paper from the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) is the specialty's first formal blueprint on best practices for running a hospital medicine group (HMG).

"The Key Principles and Characteristics of an Effective Hospital Medicine Group: An Assessment Guide for Hospitals and Hospitalists" report published this week in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, is the culmination of a two-year effort to give group leaders and hospital executives a self-assessment tool, says former SHM President John Nelson, MD, MHM, a practicing hospitalist and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants in Bellevue, Wash.

Dr. Nelson, one of the report's authors, says the 10 guiding principles and 47 individual characteristics are a launching point for group leaders, C-suite administrators, and others to discuss what ideals apply to their respective practices.

"It's like reading any other thing about how to get fit, how to eat a healthy diet, how to lead a good life," he adds. "It's pretty hard to rigidly pursue everything that an expert or well—considered document might recommend, but you tend to adapt it to your own circumstances and some things resonate."

Culled from more than 200 stakeholders, the report's 10 principles focus on:

Effective leadership;


Engaged hospitalists;


Adequate resources;


Effective planning and management infrastructure;


HMG alignment with hospitals and/or health systems;


Consideration of key clinical issues;


Recruitment and retention;


Thoughtful and rational approach to clinical activities; and


A practice model that is patient- and family-centered, team-based, and that emphasizes effective communication and care coordination.

Dr. Nelson says it's important for group leaders and hospital executives not to negatively view their practice in light of the report. Because characteristics recommended by the paper won’t necessarily apply everywhere, he suggests instead that readers pick out a handful of principles that apply most specifically to them.

"Two or three might be the right number to zero in on, but those are likely to be different for different groups," he adds. "I don't think there's any way for this to be used in the same manner at each group."

Likewise, Patrick Cawley, MD, MHM, chief executive officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Medical Center in Charleston, S.C. and author of the paper, says it shouldn't be viewed as a scientific conclusion, but as an aspirational approach to improvement.

"We feel that hospital medicine can be better than it is today," says Dr. Cawley, a former SHM president, "by laying out a road map not only [for HMGs] but [also for] hospital medicine leaders and hospital leaders about the things they should concentrate on raises the bar for everybody."

Dr. Cawley says the report is a first step for physicians and executives looking to benchmark their practices. In the future, SHM could follow up with other assessment tools that help groups improve themselves further.

"There are leaders and hospitals trying to improve their group. They're looking for something to measure themselves against," he adds. "This is instantly available for them, and we think this will be self-fulfilling. If people aren't using it, we haven't done our job right."

Richard Quinn is a freelance author in New Jersey.

Visit our website for more information on hospital medicine improvement initiatives.

A new white paper from the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) is the specialty's first formal blueprint on best practices for running a hospital medicine group (HMG).

"The Key Principles and Characteristics of an Effective Hospital Medicine Group: An Assessment Guide for Hospitals and Hospitalists" report published this week in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, is the culmination of a two-year effort to give group leaders and hospital executives a self-assessment tool, says former SHM President John Nelson, MD, MHM, a practicing hospitalist and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants in Bellevue, Wash.

Dr. Nelson, one of the report's authors, says the 10 guiding principles and 47 individual characteristics are a launching point for group leaders, C-suite administrators, and others to discuss what ideals apply to their respective practices.

"It's like reading any other thing about how to get fit, how to eat a healthy diet, how to lead a good life," he adds. "It's pretty hard to rigidly pursue everything that an expert or well—considered document might recommend, but you tend to adapt it to your own circumstances and some things resonate."

Culled from more than 200 stakeholders, the report's 10 principles focus on:

Effective leadership;


Engaged hospitalists;


Adequate resources;


Effective planning and management infrastructure;


HMG alignment with hospitals and/or health systems;


Consideration of key clinical issues;


Recruitment and retention;


Thoughtful and rational approach to clinical activities; and


A practice model that is patient- and family-centered, team-based, and that emphasizes effective communication and care coordination.

Dr. Nelson says it's important for group leaders and hospital executives not to negatively view their practice in light of the report. Because characteristics recommended by the paper won’t necessarily apply everywhere, he suggests instead that readers pick out a handful of principles that apply most specifically to them.

"Two or three might be the right number to zero in on, but those are likely to be different for different groups," he adds. "I don't think there's any way for this to be used in the same manner at each group."

Likewise, Patrick Cawley, MD, MHM, chief executive officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Medical Center in Charleston, S.C. and author of the paper, says it shouldn't be viewed as a scientific conclusion, but as an aspirational approach to improvement.

"We feel that hospital medicine can be better than it is today," says Dr. Cawley, a former SHM president, "by laying out a road map not only [for HMGs] but [also for] hospital medicine leaders and hospital leaders about the things they should concentrate on raises the bar for everybody."

Dr. Cawley says the report is a first step for physicians and executives looking to benchmark their practices. In the future, SHM could follow up with other assessment tools that help groups improve themselves further.

"There are leaders and hospitals trying to improve their group. They're looking for something to measure themselves against," he adds. "This is instantly available for them, and we think this will be self-fulfilling. If people aren't using it, we haven't done our job right."

Richard Quinn is a freelance author in New Jersey.

Visit our website for more information on hospital medicine improvement initiatives.

A new white paper from the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) is the specialty's first formal blueprint on best practices for running a hospital medicine group (HMG).

"The Key Principles and Characteristics of an Effective Hospital Medicine Group: An Assessment Guide for Hospitals and Hospitalists" report published this week in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, is the culmination of a two-year effort to give group leaders and hospital executives a self-assessment tool, says former SHM President John Nelson, MD, MHM, a practicing hospitalist and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants in Bellevue, Wash.

Dr. Nelson, one of the report's authors, says the 10 guiding principles and 47 individual characteristics are a launching point for group leaders, C-suite administrators, and others to discuss what ideals apply to their respective practices.

"It's like reading any other thing about how to get fit, how to eat a healthy diet, how to lead a good life," he adds. "It's pretty hard to rigidly pursue everything that an expert or well—considered document might recommend, but you tend to adapt it to your own circumstances and some things resonate."

Culled from more than 200 stakeholders, the report's 10 principles focus on:

Effective leadership;


Engaged hospitalists;


Adequate resources;


Effective planning and management infrastructure;


HMG alignment with hospitals and/or health systems;


Consideration of key clinical issues;


Recruitment and retention;


Thoughtful and rational approach to clinical activities; and


A practice model that is patient- and family-centered, team-based, and that emphasizes effective communication and care coordination.

Dr. Nelson says it's important for group leaders and hospital executives not to negatively view their practice in light of the report. Because characteristics recommended by the paper won’t necessarily apply everywhere, he suggests instead that readers pick out a handful of principles that apply most specifically to them.

"Two or three might be the right number to zero in on, but those are likely to be different for different groups," he adds. "I don't think there's any way for this to be used in the same manner at each group."

Likewise, Patrick Cawley, MD, MHM, chief executive officer at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) Medical Center in Charleston, S.C. and author of the paper, says it shouldn't be viewed as a scientific conclusion, but as an aspirational approach to improvement.

"We feel that hospital medicine can be better than it is today," says Dr. Cawley, a former SHM president, "by laying out a road map not only [for HMGs] but [also for] hospital medicine leaders and hospital leaders about the things they should concentrate on raises the bar for everybody."

Dr. Cawley says the report is a first step for physicians and executives looking to benchmark their practices. In the future, SHM could follow up with other assessment tools that help groups improve themselves further.

"There are leaders and hospitals trying to improve their group. They're looking for something to measure themselves against," he adds. "This is instantly available for them, and we think this will be self-fulfilling. If people aren't using it, we haven't done our job right."

Richard Quinn is a freelance author in New Jersey.

Visit our website for more information on hospital medicine improvement initiatives.

Click here to listen to more of our interview with Dr. Morrison

Click here to listen to more of our interview with Dr. Morrison

Click here to listen to more of our interview with Dr. Morrison

Dr. Howell

If only there were a place where young hospitalists, mid-career hospitalists, and veteran hospitalists in a new position could go to proverbially pick the brains of those who came before them in an informal setting that practically begs for crowd-sourced learning.

Wait, there is.

Sure, the roughly 3,000 hospitalists who descend upon SHM’s annual meeting at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino will be there for HM14’s slate of educational offerings, keynote addresses, and clinical updates. But for guys like Darren Swenson, MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas, it’s also a chance to catch up with long-lost colleagues and med-school buddies while making new friends and gleaning tips from a who’s who of industry leaders.

“Whether you’re early in your career, or eight, 10, 12 years into your career, healthcare is changing so rapidly now, getting access to leadership skills is essential,” he says.

HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM, says it’s impossible to overstate the value of networking at the annual meeting.

“Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them,” says Dr. Brotman, who practices at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. “For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor.”

There’s the flipside, too, where commiseration helps soothe the soul. But mostly, conversations with other physicians who struggle the same issues that you see can be the meeting’s most important takeaway.

“There’s so much commonality in what we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis to run a hospitalist program successfully,” Dr. Brotman adds. “Ultimately, good ideas are good ideas.

“ Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them. For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor. ”

–HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM

“There is so much innovation going on in this field that’s it’s almost impossible not to attend this meeting and come away with so many new ideas.”

In particular, Dr. Brotman sees great opportunities for early-career hospitalists to meet, greet, and build relationships.

“One of the things that marks our specialty is recognizing that the future of hospital medicine is the young hospitalists who are attending these meetings and getting fired up about it,” he adds.

SHM President Eric Howell, MD, SFHM, chief of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, sees another, less heralded benefit to networking: pride.

“You can really brag about your program’s success and your individual successes,” he says. “That can’t be underestimated in terms of value.”

Dr. Howell

Dr. Howell encourages junior faculty to attend in order to meet and interact with as many people as possible, through the poster contests or impromptu post-meeting beverages. Such discussion, whether it involves bragging or the aforementioned commiserating, tends to invigorate and energize staffers, he says.

“It’s therapeutic to be able to discuss these things,” Dr. Howell adds. “Networking is also peer-to-peer mentoring. You can tell them things you can’t tell your boss or the people you oversee. It allows you a fairly open conversation with a peer on how to advance your program and your career.”

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

Dr. Howell

If only there were a place where young hospitalists, mid-career hospitalists, and veteran hospitalists in a new position could go to proverbially pick the brains of those who came before them in an informal setting that practically begs for crowd-sourced learning.

Wait, there is.

Sure, the roughly 3,000 hospitalists who descend upon SHM’s annual meeting at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino will be there for HM14’s slate of educational offerings, keynote addresses, and clinical updates. But for guys like Darren Swenson, MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas, it’s also a chance to catch up with long-lost colleagues and med-school buddies while making new friends and gleaning tips from a who’s who of industry leaders.

“Whether you’re early in your career, or eight, 10, 12 years into your career, healthcare is changing so rapidly now, getting access to leadership skills is essential,” he says.

HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM, says it’s impossible to overstate the value of networking at the annual meeting.

“Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them,” says Dr. Brotman, who practices at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. “For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor.”

There’s the flipside, too, where commiseration helps soothe the soul. But mostly, conversations with other physicians who struggle the same issues that you see can be the meeting’s most important takeaway.

“There’s so much commonality in what we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis to run a hospitalist program successfully,” Dr. Brotman adds. “Ultimately, good ideas are good ideas.

“ Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them. For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor. ”

–HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM

“There is so much innovation going on in this field that’s it’s almost impossible not to attend this meeting and come away with so many new ideas.”

In particular, Dr. Brotman sees great opportunities for early-career hospitalists to meet, greet, and build relationships.

“One of the things that marks our specialty is recognizing that the future of hospital medicine is the young hospitalists who are attending these meetings and getting fired up about it,” he adds.

SHM President Eric Howell, MD, SFHM, chief of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, sees another, less heralded benefit to networking: pride.

“You can really brag about your program’s success and your individual successes,” he says. “That can’t be underestimated in terms of value.”

Dr. Howell

Dr. Howell encourages junior faculty to attend in order to meet and interact with as many people as possible, through the poster contests or impromptu post-meeting beverages. Such discussion, whether it involves bragging or the aforementioned commiserating, tends to invigorate and energize staffers, he says.

“It’s therapeutic to be able to discuss these things,” Dr. Howell adds. “Networking is also peer-to-peer mentoring. You can tell them things you can’t tell your boss or the people you oversee. It allows you a fairly open conversation with a peer on how to advance your program and your career.”

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.

Dr. Howell

If only there were a place where young hospitalists, mid-career hospitalists, and veteran hospitalists in a new position could go to proverbially pick the brains of those who came before them in an informal setting that practically begs for crowd-sourced learning.

Wait, there is.

Sure, the roughly 3,000 hospitalists who descend upon SHM’s annual meeting at Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino will be there for HM14’s slate of educational offerings, keynote addresses, and clinical updates. But for guys like Darren Swenson, MD, a regional medical advisor for IPC The Hospitalist Co. in Las Vegas, it’s also a chance to catch up with long-lost colleagues and med-school buddies while making new friends and gleaning tips from a who’s who of industry leaders.

“Whether you’re early in your career, or eight, 10, 12 years into your career, healthcare is changing so rapidly now, getting access to leadership skills is essential,” he says.

HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM, says it’s impossible to overstate the value of networking at the annual meeting.

“Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them,” says Dr. Brotman, who practices at John Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, Md. “For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor.”

There’s the flipside, too, where commiseration helps soothe the soul. But mostly, conversations with other physicians who struggle the same issues that you see can be the meeting’s most important takeaway.

“There’s so much commonality in what we’re dealing with on a day-to-day basis to run a hospitalist program successfully,” Dr. Brotman adds. “Ultimately, good ideas are good ideas.

“ Many of these folks I see once a year, and I look forward to seeing them. For me, as a director of a hospitalist program, to network with other people who direct programs and are trying to navigate very similar challenges is great, because it gives me ideas for how I might do something different, and I can return the favor. ”

–HM14 course director Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM

“There is so much innovation going on in this field that’s it’s almost impossible not to attend this meeting and come away with so many new ideas.”

In particular, Dr. Brotman sees great opportunities for early-career hospitalists to meet, greet, and build relationships.

“One of the things that marks our specialty is recognizing that the future of hospital medicine is the young hospitalists who are attending these meetings and getting fired up about it,” he adds.

SHM President Eric Howell, MD, SFHM, chief of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center in Baltimore, sees another, less heralded benefit to networking: pride.

“You can really brag about your program’s success and your individual successes,” he says. “That can’t be underestimated in terms of value.”

Dr. Howell

Dr. Howell encourages junior faculty to attend in order to meet and interact with as many people as possible, through the poster contests or impromptu post-meeting beverages. Such discussion, whether it involves bragging or the aforementioned commiserating, tends to invigorate and energize staffers, he says.

“It’s therapeutic to be able to discuss these things,” Dr. Howell adds. “Networking is also peer-to-peer mentoring. You can tell them things you can’t tell your boss or the people you oversee. It allows you a fairly open conversation with a peer on how to advance your program and your career.”

Richard Quinn is a freelance writer in New Jersey.