From the Society

Recently, I was asked to present my top public speaking tips for a group of women leaders. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, and one that I teach a number of groups, from medical students to faculty.

I also benefited from just returning from the Harvard Macy Educators Course, where Victoria Brazil, MD, an experienced emergency medicine physician from Australia, provided her top tips. Here is a mash-up of the top tips to think about for any of the speakers out there among us – with a few shout-outs for the ladies out there. Please add your own!

The Dos

• Do project power: Stand tall with a relaxed stance and shoulders back – posture is everything. This is especially important for women, who may tend to shrink their bodies, or anyone who is short. A powerful messenger is just as important as the power of the message. The same also applies to sitting down, especially if you are on a panel. Do not look like you are falling into the table.
• Do look up: Think about addressing the people in the back, not in the front row. This looks better in photos as well since you are appealing to the large audience and not the front row. Dr. Brazil’s tip came from Cate Blanchett who said that before she gives talks, she literally and physically advises “picking up your crown and put it on your head.” Not only will you feel better, you will look it too.
• Do pause strategically: The human brain needs rest to process what you are about to say. You can ask people to “think of a time” and take a pause. Or “I want you to all think about what I just said for one moment.” And TAKE a moment. But think about Emma’s pause during the March For Your Lives. Pauses are powerful and serve as a way to cement what you are saying for even the most critical crowd. Think about when anyone on their phone pauses, even if you’re on a boring conference call others will wake up and wonder what is going on and are now engaged in the talk.
• Do strategically summarize: Before you end, or in between important sections, say the following: “There are three main things you can do.” Even if someone fell asleep, they will wake up to take note. It’s a way to get folks’ attention back. There is nothing like challenging others to do something.

The Don’ts

• Don’t start with an apology for “not being an expert”: Or whatever you are thinking about apologizing for. The voice in your head does not need to be broadcast to others. Just say thank you after you are introduced, and launch in. Someone has asked you to talk, so bring your own unique expertise and don’t start with undermining yourself!
• Don’t use your slides as a crutch: Make your audience look at you and not your slides. That means at times, you may be talking and your slides will not be moving. Other times, if you are starting with a story, maybe there is no slide behind you and the screen is blacked out. Some of the most powerful moments in a talk are when slides are not being used.
• Don’t stand behind the podium if you can help it. This means ask for a wireless microphone. Most podiums will overwhelm you. If you have to use a podium, go back to the posture in the “dos.” One year, I had a leg injury and definitely used the podium, so obviously there may be times you need to use a podium; even then, try as hard as possible to make sure you are seen.
• Don’t engage grandstanders during Q&A: Invariably, you will get someone who stands up and goes into a long comment that is not a question to hear themselves speak. Insert yourself, say “thank you” and take the next question. If there is not a next question, you can add, “Before I forget, I want to share another question I am often asked which may be of help to you.” Then, answer your own question. You get the final word this way!

Happy speaking! I look forward to seeing you in warmer weather during the spring conference season.

For more posts from the Hospital Leader blog, visit hospitalleader.org.

Recently, I was asked to present my top public speaking tips for a group of women leaders. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, and one that I teach a number of groups, from medical students to faculty.

I also benefited from just returning from the Harvard Macy Educators Course, where Victoria Brazil, MD, an experienced emergency medicine physician from Australia, provided her top tips. Here is a mash-up of the top tips to think about for any of the speakers out there among us – with a few shout-outs for the ladies out there. Please add your own!

The Dos

• Do project power: Stand tall with a relaxed stance and shoulders back – posture is everything. This is especially important for women, who may tend to shrink their bodies, or anyone who is short. A powerful messenger is just as important as the power of the message. The same also applies to sitting down, especially if you are on a panel. Do not look like you are falling into the table.
• Do look up: Think about addressing the people in the back, not in the front row. This looks better in photos as well since you are appealing to the large audience and not the front row. Dr. Brazil’s tip came from Cate Blanchett who said that before she gives talks, she literally and physically advises “picking up your crown and put it on your head.” Not only will you feel better, you will look it too.
• Do pause strategically: The human brain needs rest to process what you are about to say. You can ask people to “think of a time” and take a pause. Or “I want you to all think about what I just said for one moment.” And TAKE a moment. But think about Emma’s pause during the March For Your Lives. Pauses are powerful and serve as a way to cement what you are saying for even the most critical crowd. Think about when anyone on their phone pauses, even if you’re on a boring conference call others will wake up and wonder what is going on and are now engaged in the talk.
• Do strategically summarize: Before you end, or in between important sections, say the following: “There are three main things you can do.” Even if someone fell asleep, they will wake up to take note. It’s a way to get folks’ attention back. There is nothing like challenging others to do something.

The Don’ts

• Don’t start with an apology for “not being an expert”: Or whatever you are thinking about apologizing for. The voice in your head does not need to be broadcast to others. Just say thank you after you are introduced, and launch in. Someone has asked you to talk, so bring your own unique expertise and don’t start with undermining yourself!
• Don’t use your slides as a crutch: Make your audience look at you and not your slides. That means at times, you may be talking and your slides will not be moving. Other times, if you are starting with a story, maybe there is no slide behind you and the screen is blacked out. Some of the most powerful moments in a talk are when slides are not being used.
• Don’t stand behind the podium if you can help it. This means ask for a wireless microphone. Most podiums will overwhelm you. If you have to use a podium, go back to the posture in the “dos.” One year, I had a leg injury and definitely used the podium, so obviously there may be times you need to use a podium; even then, try as hard as possible to make sure you are seen.
• Don’t engage grandstanders during Q&A: Invariably, you will get someone who stands up and goes into a long comment that is not a question to hear themselves speak. Insert yourself, say “thank you” and take the next question. If there is not a next question, you can add, “Before I forget, I want to share another question I am often asked which may be of help to you.” Then, answer your own question. You get the final word this way!

Happy speaking! I look forward to seeing you in warmer weather during the spring conference season.

For more posts from the Hospital Leader blog, visit hospitalleader.org.

Recently, I was asked to present my top public speaking tips for a group of women leaders. This is a topic near and dear to my heart, and one that I teach a number of groups, from medical students to faculty.

I also benefited from just returning from the Harvard Macy Educators Course, where Victoria Brazil, MD, an experienced emergency medicine physician from Australia, provided her top tips. Here is a mash-up of the top tips to think about for any of the speakers out there among us – with a few shout-outs for the ladies out there. Please add your own!

The Dos

• Do project power: Stand tall with a relaxed stance and shoulders back – posture is everything. This is especially important for women, who may tend to shrink their bodies, or anyone who is short. A powerful messenger is just as important as the power of the message. The same also applies to sitting down, especially if you are on a panel. Do not look like you are falling into the table.
• Do look up: Think about addressing the people in the back, not in the front row. This looks better in photos as well since you are appealing to the large audience and not the front row. Dr. Brazil’s tip came from Cate Blanchett who said that before she gives talks, she literally and physically advises “picking up your crown and put it on your head.” Not only will you feel better, you will look it too.
• Do pause strategically: The human brain needs rest to process what you are about to say. You can ask people to “think of a time” and take a pause. Or “I want you to all think about what I just said for one moment.” And TAKE a moment. But think about Emma’s pause during the March For Your Lives. Pauses are powerful and serve as a way to cement what you are saying for even the most critical crowd. Think about when anyone on their phone pauses, even if you’re on a boring conference call others will wake up and wonder what is going on and are now engaged in the talk.
• Do strategically summarize: Before you end, or in between important sections, say the following: “There are three main things you can do.” Even if someone fell asleep, they will wake up to take note. It’s a way to get folks’ attention back. There is nothing like challenging others to do something.

The Don’ts

• Don’t start with an apology for “not being an expert”: Or whatever you are thinking about apologizing for. The voice in your head does not need to be broadcast to others. Just say thank you after you are introduced, and launch in. Someone has asked you to talk, so bring your own unique expertise and don’t start with undermining yourself!
• Don’t use your slides as a crutch: Make your audience look at you and not your slides. That means at times, you may be talking and your slides will not be moving. Other times, if you are starting with a story, maybe there is no slide behind you and the screen is blacked out. Some of the most powerful moments in a talk are when slides are not being used.
• Don’t stand behind the podium if you can help it. This means ask for a wireless microphone. Most podiums will overwhelm you. If you have to use a podium, go back to the posture in the “dos.” One year, I had a leg injury and definitely used the podium, so obviously there may be times you need to use a podium; even then, try as hard as possible to make sure you are seen.
• Don’t engage grandstanders during Q&A: Invariably, you will get someone who stands up and goes into a long comment that is not a question to hear themselves speak. Insert yourself, say “thank you” and take the next question. If there is not a next question, you can add, “Before I forget, I want to share another question I am often asked which may be of help to you.” Then, answer your own question. You get the final word this way!

Happy speaking! I look forward to seeing you in warmer weather during the spring conference season.

For more posts from the Hospital Leader blog, visit hospitalleader.org.

Our profession continues to experience steady growth, and demand for hospitalist physicians exceeds supply. In a recent article in The Hospitalist, Andrew White, MD, SFHM, highlighted the fact that most hospital medicine groups (HMGs) are constantly recruiting and open positions are not uncommon.

When we think about recruitment and staffing, I bet many of us think principally of physicians trained in the general medicine specialties of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. Yet, to help meet demand for hospital-based clinicians, HMGs sometimes turn to physicians certified in emergency medicine, critical care, geriatric medicine, palliative care, and other fields.

To gain a better understanding of the diversity within our profession, the Society of Hospital Medicine’s State of Hospital Medicine survey asked HMGs whether they employ at least one physician in these various specialties. Results published in the recently released 2018 State of Hospital Medicine (SoHM) Report show significant differences among groups, affected by location, group size, and type of employer.

At the core of our profession are physicians trained in internal medicine, present in 99.2% of adult medicine HMGs throughout the United States. No surprise given that our field was founded by internists and remains a popular career choice for IM residency graduates. Family physicians follow, with the highest percentage of groups employing at least one FP located in the southern United States at 70.3% and lowest in the west at 54.7%. Small-sized groups – fewer than 10 full-time equivalents (FTEs) – were also more likely to employ FPs.

This speaks to the challenge – often faced by smaller hospitals – of covering both adult and pediatric patient populations and limited workforce availability. Pediatrics- and internal medicine/pediatrics–trained physicians help meet this need and were prevalent within small-sized groups. Another distinction found in the report is that, while 92.1% of multistate hospitalist management companies employed family physicians, only 28.8% of academic university settings did so. Partly because of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for IM-certified teaching attending for internal medicine residents, FP and other specialties are filling some non–teaching hospitalist positions within our academic programs.

What may be surprising is that emergency medicine and critical care had the largest increase in representation in hospital medicine. The two specialties showed similar growth trends, with a larger presence in the South and Midwest states and 56% of multistate hospitalist management companies employing them. Small- to medium-sized groups of up to 20 FTEs were also more likely to have physicians from these fields, with up to 44% of groups doing so. This is a significant change from 2016, when less than 3.4% of all HMGs overall had a physician certified in emergency or critical care medicine.

This finding seems to coincide with the growth in hospital medicine groups who are covering both ED and inpatient services. For small and rural hospitals, it has become necessary and beneficial to have physicians capable of covering both clinical settings.

Contrast this with geriatric medicine and palliative care. Here, we saw these two specialties to be present in our academic institutions at 26.8% and 22.5%, respectively. Large-sized HMGs were more likely to employ them, whereas their presence in multistate management groups or private multispecialty/primary care groups was quite low. Compared with our last survey in 2016, their overall prevalence in HMGs hasn’t changed significantly. Whether this will be different in the future with our aging population will be interesting to follow.

Published biannually, the SoHM report provides insight into these and other market-based dynamics that shape hospital medicine. The demand for hospital-based clinicians and the demands of acute inpatient care are leading to the broad and inclusive nature of hospital medicine. Our staffing will continue to be met not only by internal medicine and family medicine physicians but also through these other specialties joining our ranks and adding diversity to our profession.

Dr. Sites is the executive medical director of acute medicine at Providence St. Joseph Health, Oregon, and a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. She leads the hospital medicine programs and is involved in strategy development and alignment of acute inpatient medicine services at eight member hospitals. She has been a practicing hospitalist for 20 years and volunteers on medical mission trips to Guatemala annually.

Our profession continues to experience steady growth, and demand for hospitalist physicians exceeds supply. In a recent article in The Hospitalist, Andrew White, MD, SFHM, highlighted the fact that most hospital medicine groups (HMGs) are constantly recruiting and open positions are not uncommon.

When we think about recruitment and staffing, I bet many of us think principally of physicians trained in the general medicine specialties of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. Yet, to help meet demand for hospital-based clinicians, HMGs sometimes turn to physicians certified in emergency medicine, critical care, geriatric medicine, palliative care, and other fields.

To gain a better understanding of the diversity within our profession, the Society of Hospital Medicine’s State of Hospital Medicine survey asked HMGs whether they employ at least one physician in these various specialties. Results published in the recently released 2018 State of Hospital Medicine (SoHM) Report show significant differences among groups, affected by location, group size, and type of employer.

At the core of our profession are physicians trained in internal medicine, present in 99.2% of adult medicine HMGs throughout the United States. No surprise given that our field was founded by internists and remains a popular career choice for IM residency graduates. Family physicians follow, with the highest percentage of groups employing at least one FP located in the southern United States at 70.3% and lowest in the west at 54.7%. Small-sized groups – fewer than 10 full-time equivalents (FTEs) – were also more likely to employ FPs.

This speaks to the challenge – often faced by smaller hospitals – of covering both adult and pediatric patient populations and limited workforce availability. Pediatrics- and internal medicine/pediatrics–trained physicians help meet this need and were prevalent within small-sized groups. Another distinction found in the report is that, while 92.1% of multistate hospitalist management companies employed family physicians, only 28.8% of academic university settings did so. Partly because of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for IM-certified teaching attending for internal medicine residents, FP and other specialties are filling some non–teaching hospitalist positions within our academic programs.

What may be surprising is that emergency medicine and critical care had the largest increase in representation in hospital medicine. The two specialties showed similar growth trends, with a larger presence in the South and Midwest states and 56% of multistate hospitalist management companies employing them. Small- to medium-sized groups of up to 20 FTEs were also more likely to have physicians from these fields, with up to 44% of groups doing so. This is a significant change from 2016, when less than 3.4% of all HMGs overall had a physician certified in emergency or critical care medicine.

This finding seems to coincide with the growth in hospital medicine groups who are covering both ED and inpatient services. For small and rural hospitals, it has become necessary and beneficial to have physicians capable of covering both clinical settings.

Contrast this with geriatric medicine and palliative care. Here, we saw these two specialties to be present in our academic institutions at 26.8% and 22.5%, respectively. Large-sized HMGs were more likely to employ them, whereas their presence in multistate management groups or private multispecialty/primary care groups was quite low. Compared with our last survey in 2016, their overall prevalence in HMGs hasn’t changed significantly. Whether this will be different in the future with our aging population will be interesting to follow.

Published biannually, the SoHM report provides insight into these and other market-based dynamics that shape hospital medicine. The demand for hospital-based clinicians and the demands of acute inpatient care are leading to the broad and inclusive nature of hospital medicine. Our staffing will continue to be met not only by internal medicine and family medicine physicians but also through these other specialties joining our ranks and adding diversity to our profession.

Dr. Sites is the executive medical director of acute medicine at Providence St. Joseph Health, Oregon, and a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. She leads the hospital medicine programs and is involved in strategy development and alignment of acute inpatient medicine services at eight member hospitals. She has been a practicing hospitalist for 20 years and volunteers on medical mission trips to Guatemala annually.

Our profession continues to experience steady growth, and demand for hospitalist physicians exceeds supply. In a recent article in The Hospitalist, Andrew White, MD, SFHM, highlighted the fact that most hospital medicine groups (HMGs) are constantly recruiting and open positions are not uncommon.

When we think about recruitment and staffing, I bet many of us think principally of physicians trained in the general medicine specialties of internal medicine, family medicine, and pediatrics. Yet, to help meet demand for hospital-based clinicians, HMGs sometimes turn to physicians certified in emergency medicine, critical care, geriatric medicine, palliative care, and other fields.

To gain a better understanding of the diversity within our profession, the Society of Hospital Medicine’s State of Hospital Medicine survey asked HMGs whether they employ at least one physician in these various specialties. Results published in the recently released 2018 State of Hospital Medicine (SoHM) Report show significant differences among groups, affected by location, group size, and type of employer.

At the core of our profession are physicians trained in internal medicine, present in 99.2% of adult medicine HMGs throughout the United States. No surprise given that our field was founded by internists and remains a popular career choice for IM residency graduates. Family physicians follow, with the highest percentage of groups employing at least one FP located in the southern United States at 70.3% and lowest in the west at 54.7%. Small-sized groups – fewer than 10 full-time equivalents (FTEs) – were also more likely to employ FPs.

This speaks to the challenge – often faced by smaller hospitals – of covering both adult and pediatric patient populations and limited workforce availability. Pediatrics- and internal medicine/pediatrics–trained physicians help meet this need and were prevalent within small-sized groups. Another distinction found in the report is that, while 92.1% of multistate hospitalist management companies employed family physicians, only 28.8% of academic university settings did so. Partly because of Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education requirements for IM-certified teaching attending for internal medicine residents, FP and other specialties are filling some non–teaching hospitalist positions within our academic programs.

What may be surprising is that emergency medicine and critical care had the largest increase in representation in hospital medicine. The two specialties showed similar growth trends, with a larger presence in the South and Midwest states and 56% of multistate hospitalist management companies employing them. Small- to medium-sized groups of up to 20 FTEs were also more likely to have physicians from these fields, with up to 44% of groups doing so. This is a significant change from 2016, when less than 3.4% of all HMGs overall had a physician certified in emergency or critical care medicine.

This finding seems to coincide with the growth in hospital medicine groups who are covering both ED and inpatient services. For small and rural hospitals, it has become necessary and beneficial to have physicians capable of covering both clinical settings.

Contrast this with geriatric medicine and palliative care. Here, we saw these two specialties to be present in our academic institutions at 26.8% and 22.5%, respectively. Large-sized HMGs were more likely to employ them, whereas their presence in multistate management groups or private multispecialty/primary care groups was quite low. Compared with our last survey in 2016, their overall prevalence in HMGs hasn’t changed significantly. Whether this will be different in the future with our aging population will be interesting to follow.

Published biannually, the SoHM report provides insight into these and other market-based dynamics that shape hospital medicine. The demand for hospital-based clinicians and the demands of acute inpatient care are leading to the broad and inclusive nature of hospital medicine. Our staffing will continue to be met not only by internal medicine and family medicine physicians but also through these other specialties joining our ranks and adding diversity to our profession.

Dr. Sites is the executive medical director of acute medicine at Providence St. Joseph Health, Oregon, and a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee. She leads the hospital medicine programs and is involved in strategy development and alignment of acute inpatient medicine services at eight member hospitals. She has been a practicing hospitalist for 20 years and volunteers on medical mission trips to Guatemala annually.

Hospital medicine is growing in popularity in some foreign countries, speakers said during Monday afternoon’s session, “International Hospital Medicine in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Holland.” The presenters discussed some of the history of hospital medicine in each of those countries as well as some current challenges.

Hospital medicine in the Netherlands started in about 2012, said Marjolein de Boom, MD, a hospitalist at Haaglanden Medical Centre. The country has its own 3-year training program for hospitalists, who first started to work in hospitals in the country in 2015. “It’s a relatively new and young specialty,” said Dr. de Boom, with 39 hospitalists in the country working in 8 of the 80 Dutch hospitals. Another 25 or so hospitalists are in training, “so it’s a growing profession,” she said. A Dutch chapter of SHM has been in place since 2017.

Hospitals in the Netherlands permit physicians to serve as hospitalists in different specialties depending on their needs. For example, Dr. de Boom works in the oncology department, as well as the surgical and trauma surgery units. One challenge has been to get more physicians interested in the hospitalist program because it’s newer and not as well-known, she said.

Hospital medicine in the United Arab Emirates also is a newer concept. The American model of hospital medicine was first introduced to the region in 2014 by the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, said Mahmoud Al-Hawamdeh, MD, MBA, SFHM, FACP, chair of hospital medicine at the medical center. “Before that, inpatient hospital care was done by traditional family and internal medicine physicians, general practitioners, and residents,” he said.

Hospital medicine is growing in popularity in some foreign countries, speakers said during Monday afternoon’s session, “International Hospital Medicine in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Holland.” The presenters discussed some of the history of hospital medicine in each of those countries as well as some current challenges.

Hospital medicine in the Netherlands started in about 2012, said Marjolein de Boom, MD, a hospitalist at Haaglanden Medical Centre. The country has its own 3-year training program for hospitalists, who first started to work in hospitals in the country in 2015. “It’s a relatively new and young specialty,” said Dr. de Boom, with 39 hospitalists in the country working in 8 of the 80 Dutch hospitals. Another 25 or so hospitalists are in training, “so it’s a growing profession,” she said. A Dutch chapter of SHM has been in place since 2017.

Hospitals in the Netherlands permit physicians to serve as hospitalists in different specialties depending on their needs. For example, Dr. de Boom works in the oncology department, as well as the surgical and trauma surgery units. One challenge has been to get more physicians interested in the hospitalist program because it’s newer and not as well-known, she said.

Hospital medicine in the United Arab Emirates also is a newer concept. The American model of hospital medicine was first introduced to the region in 2014 by the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, said Mahmoud Al-Hawamdeh, MD, MBA, SFHM, FACP, chair of hospital medicine at the medical center. “Before that, inpatient hospital care was done by traditional family and internal medicine physicians, general practitioners, and residents,” he said.

Hospital medicine is growing in popularity in some foreign countries, speakers said during Monday afternoon’s session, “International Hospital Medicine in the United Arab Emirates, Brazil and Holland.” The presenters discussed some of the history of hospital medicine in each of those countries as well as some current challenges.

Hospital medicine in the Netherlands started in about 2012, said Marjolein de Boom, MD, a hospitalist at Haaglanden Medical Centre. The country has its own 3-year training program for hospitalists, who first started to work in hospitals in the country in 2015. “It’s a relatively new and young specialty,” said Dr. de Boom, with 39 hospitalists in the country working in 8 of the 80 Dutch hospitals. Another 25 or so hospitalists are in training, “so it’s a growing profession,” she said. A Dutch chapter of SHM has been in place since 2017.

Hospitals in the Netherlands permit physicians to serve as hospitalists in different specialties depending on their needs. For example, Dr. de Boom works in the oncology department, as well as the surgical and trauma surgery units. One challenge has been to get more physicians interested in the hospitalist program because it’s newer and not as well-known, she said.

Hospital medicine in the United Arab Emirates also is a newer concept. The American model of hospital medicine was first introduced to the region in 2014 by the Cleveland Clinic in Abu Dhabi, said Mahmoud Al-Hawamdeh, MD, MBA, SFHM, FACP, chair of hospital medicine at the medical center. “Before that, inpatient hospital care was done by traditional family and internal medicine physicians, general practitioners, and residents,” he said.

While I hope I’ll still be doing much the same work for many more years, I’m clearly at a stage of life that most of my career is behind me. So I guess it’s natural that I think about the past a little more than I used to. And one of the things that makes me smile is how I’m like George Costanza in The Comeback episode of “Seinfeld.”

In 1997 I had just delivered a presentation about what the future might hold for hospitalists to the roughly 110 attendees at the first in-person meeting of SHM (then known as the National Association of Inpatient Physicians). During the Q&A that followed, someone asked me what clinical content I would include in the hospitalist-specific test or board exam that I had speculated might be in our future. I took his tone and body language to suggest his main intent was to convey that I was crazy to think that such a test might ever be worthwhile.

A pregnant silence followed his question, after which I gave a tentative response that I worried made me sound dumb. So like George in “Seinfeld,” I continued to think about this, and days later came up with what I’m sure would have been a terrific comeback that would have gotten a robust laugh from the audience without being demeaning to the questioner. For the last 22 years I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me the same question so I can finally deliver my winner of a response.

There have been other missed opportunities, but when I think about the past and future of our field and our Society, I’m reminded of many past accomplishments and a promising future.

When Dr. Win Whitcomb and I founded SHM, I had the idea that, among its most important roles, would be serving as a forum for exchange of ideas among hospitalists and providing robust practice management resources for hospitalist groups. Through the efforts of so many people, including Angela Musial, the first SHM staff person, and so many other staff and members, we now have dozens of active special interest groups, informative publications, an active online discussion forum, and blogs. And our annual conference has grown a lot from that first meeting of 110 people; HM19 will bring together nearly 5,000 of us to educate, inspire, and support one another. Collectively, there are a lot of ideas being exchanged through SHM.

When SHM was brand new I had hope that it would grow. But I never guessed that hospital medicine would become the fastest-growing field in the history of U.S. health care.

I also never guessed that the term “nocturnist” would become a standard part of our field’s lexicon. I used it solely as a reliable way to get a laugh and find it really funny and delightful that it caught on.

And OB hospitalists? Neurohospitalists? I never saw these and the many other variations coming at all. But I see it as validating an idea first adopted by medicine and pediatrics. But dermatology hospitalists? Yep, that’s a thing too. The hospitalist model has been adopted, in at least a few places, by nearly every specialty in medicine.

And it is terrific that March 7, 2019, is the first National Hospitalist Day. SHM made this happen too.

I also think about the future of our field and see some pretty big challenges, though our past success as a field makes me confident we’ll navigate them effectively.

The burden of administrative, regulatory, and EHR-related tasks just keeps growing for hospitalists. This often means it is difficult or impossible see as many patients in a day as might have been reasonable in the past. In the near term, the only solution might be to reduce patient loads, but that isn’t a sustainable solution in the long term. I’m convinced we need to offload much of the work we do today that isn’t purely clinical, so that a typical hospitalist in the future can see more patients each day without working harder or longer.

I imagine a future in which the typical hospitalist goes home after seeing 20 or more patients in a day and isn’t completely exhausted and stressed, but sees it as a good day at work. I’m not sure exactly how we’ll get there, but it will probably include things like no longer having to devote any time or attention to whether the patient is inpatient or observation status, or whether they have had a qualifying 3-midnight stay so Medicare will cover a skilled nursing facility. I’m excited to see how this will evolve.

Dr. Nelson is cofounder and past president of SHM, and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants. He is codirector for SHM’s practice management courses.

While I hope I’ll still be doing much the same work for many more years, I’m clearly at a stage of life that most of my career is behind me. So I guess it’s natural that I think about the past a little more than I used to. And one of the things that makes me smile is how I’m like George Costanza in The Comeback episode of “Seinfeld.”

In 1997 I had just delivered a presentation about what the future might hold for hospitalists to the roughly 110 attendees at the first in-person meeting of SHM (then known as the National Association of Inpatient Physicians). During the Q&A that followed, someone asked me what clinical content I would include in the hospitalist-specific test or board exam that I had speculated might be in our future. I took his tone and body language to suggest his main intent was to convey that I was crazy to think that such a test might ever be worthwhile.

A pregnant silence followed his question, after which I gave a tentative response that I worried made me sound dumb. So like George in “Seinfeld,” I continued to think about this, and days later came up with what I’m sure would have been a terrific comeback that would have gotten a robust laugh from the audience without being demeaning to the questioner. For the last 22 years I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me the same question so I can finally deliver my winner of a response.

There have been other missed opportunities, but when I think about the past and future of our field and our Society, I’m reminded of many past accomplishments and a promising future.

When Dr. Win Whitcomb and I founded SHM, I had the idea that, among its most important roles, would be serving as a forum for exchange of ideas among hospitalists and providing robust practice management resources for hospitalist groups. Through the efforts of so many people, including Angela Musial, the first SHM staff person, and so many other staff and members, we now have dozens of active special interest groups, informative publications, an active online discussion forum, and blogs. And our annual conference has grown a lot from that first meeting of 110 people; HM19 will bring together nearly 5,000 of us to educate, inspire, and support one another. Collectively, there are a lot of ideas being exchanged through SHM.

When SHM was brand new I had hope that it would grow. But I never guessed that hospital medicine would become the fastest-growing field in the history of U.S. health care.

I also never guessed that the term “nocturnist” would become a standard part of our field’s lexicon. I used it solely as a reliable way to get a laugh and find it really funny and delightful that it caught on.

And OB hospitalists? Neurohospitalists? I never saw these and the many other variations coming at all. But I see it as validating an idea first adopted by medicine and pediatrics. But dermatology hospitalists? Yep, that’s a thing too. The hospitalist model has been adopted, in at least a few places, by nearly every specialty in medicine.

And it is terrific that March 7, 2019, is the first National Hospitalist Day. SHM made this happen too.

I also think about the future of our field and see some pretty big challenges, though our past success as a field makes me confident we’ll navigate them effectively.

The burden of administrative, regulatory, and EHR-related tasks just keeps growing for hospitalists. This often means it is difficult or impossible see as many patients in a day as might have been reasonable in the past. In the near term, the only solution might be to reduce patient loads, but that isn’t a sustainable solution in the long term. I’m convinced we need to offload much of the work we do today that isn’t purely clinical, so that a typical hospitalist in the future can see more patients each day without working harder or longer.

I imagine a future in which the typical hospitalist goes home after seeing 20 or more patients in a day and isn’t completely exhausted and stressed, but sees it as a good day at work. I’m not sure exactly how we’ll get there, but it will probably include things like no longer having to devote any time or attention to whether the patient is inpatient or observation status, or whether they have had a qualifying 3-midnight stay so Medicare will cover a skilled nursing facility. I’m excited to see how this will evolve.

Dr. Nelson is cofounder and past president of SHM, and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants. He is codirector for SHM’s practice management courses.

While I hope I’ll still be doing much the same work for many more years, I’m clearly at a stage of life that most of my career is behind me. So I guess it’s natural that I think about the past a little more than I used to. And one of the things that makes me smile is how I’m like George Costanza in The Comeback episode of “Seinfeld.”

In 1997 I had just delivered a presentation about what the future might hold for hospitalists to the roughly 110 attendees at the first in-person meeting of SHM (then known as the National Association of Inpatient Physicians). During the Q&A that followed, someone asked me what clinical content I would include in the hospitalist-specific test or board exam that I had speculated might be in our future. I took his tone and body language to suggest his main intent was to convey that I was crazy to think that such a test might ever be worthwhile.

A pregnant silence followed his question, after which I gave a tentative response that I worried made me sound dumb. So like George in “Seinfeld,” I continued to think about this, and days later came up with what I’m sure would have been a terrific comeback that would have gotten a robust laugh from the audience without being demeaning to the questioner. For the last 22 years I’ve been waiting for someone to ask me the same question so I can finally deliver my winner of a response.

There have been other missed opportunities, but when I think about the past and future of our field and our Society, I’m reminded of many past accomplishments and a promising future.

When Dr. Win Whitcomb and I founded SHM, I had the idea that, among its most important roles, would be serving as a forum for exchange of ideas among hospitalists and providing robust practice management resources for hospitalist groups. Through the efforts of so many people, including Angela Musial, the first SHM staff person, and so many other staff and members, we now have dozens of active special interest groups, informative publications, an active online discussion forum, and blogs. And our annual conference has grown a lot from that first meeting of 110 people; HM19 will bring together nearly 5,000 of us to educate, inspire, and support one another. Collectively, there are a lot of ideas being exchanged through SHM.

When SHM was brand new I had hope that it would grow. But I never guessed that hospital medicine would become the fastest-growing field in the history of U.S. health care.

I also never guessed that the term “nocturnist” would become a standard part of our field’s lexicon. I used it solely as a reliable way to get a laugh and find it really funny and delightful that it caught on.

And OB hospitalists? Neurohospitalists? I never saw these and the many other variations coming at all. But I see it as validating an idea first adopted by medicine and pediatrics. But dermatology hospitalists? Yep, that’s a thing too. The hospitalist model has been adopted, in at least a few places, by nearly every specialty in medicine.

And it is terrific that March 7, 2019, is the first National Hospitalist Day. SHM made this happen too.

I also think about the future of our field and see some pretty big challenges, though our past success as a field makes me confident we’ll navigate them effectively.

The burden of administrative, regulatory, and EHR-related tasks just keeps growing for hospitalists. This often means it is difficult or impossible see as many patients in a day as might have been reasonable in the past. In the near term, the only solution might be to reduce patient loads, but that isn’t a sustainable solution in the long term. I’m convinced we need to offload much of the work we do today that isn’t purely clinical, so that a typical hospitalist in the future can see more patients each day without working harder or longer.

I imagine a future in which the typical hospitalist goes home after seeing 20 or more patients in a day and isn’t completely exhausted and stressed, but sees it as a good day at work. I’m not sure exactly how we’ll get there, but it will probably include things like no longer having to devote any time or attention to whether the patient is inpatient or observation status, or whether they have had a qualifying 3-midnight stay so Medicare will cover a skilled nursing facility. I’m excited to see how this will evolve.

Dr. Nelson is cofounder and past president of SHM, and principal in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants. He is codirector for SHM’s practice management courses.

Due to the steadily growing interest of SHM members in health care policy and advocacy issues, the 2019 Annual Conference will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

To be held on Monday, March 25th at HM19 in Orlando, the health care policy mini-track will update conference attendees on some of the Washington developments that affect hospitalists, said Josh Boswell, director of government relations at SHM.

“Many of the policy developments in D.C. are directly impacting our members’ practices,” he said. “A couple of years ago, it was decided to add a specific track at the annual conference to cover some of these policy issues, and we’ve generally had positive feedback on the sessions.”

This year, the mini-track will consist of two separate sessions, held back to back. “Both sessions are designed to give attendees an entrée into health policy and explain developments that are happening right now in Washington that impact their practice,” said Joshua Lapps, government relations manager at SHM.

The first session – “CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program” – will take place from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., and will feature Reena Duseja, MD, MS, the acting director for Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in the Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Duseja oversees the development of measures and analyses for a variety of CMS quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. She is also an emergency medicine physician and was an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, in the department of emergency medicine, where she led quality improvement activities.

“The session with Dr. Duseja will be an inside look into the approach that CMS is taking for quality measurement and pay-for-performance programs, specifically looking at the quality payment program which came out of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act,” Mr. Lapps said. “It will be a high-level discussion about how the programs affect hospitalists, and how hospitalists participate in the programs. It’s also a chance for attendees to hear some of the thinking inside CMS.”

Dr. Duseja is also hoping to get feedback from HM19 attendees. “She wants the session to be educational for our members, as well as an opportunity for her to learn from hospitalists,” Mr. Lapps said.

According to Dr. Duseja, her presentation will provide attendees with an overview of the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), specifically highlighting policy changes from 2018 to 2019 to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Meaningful Measures Initiative. Attendees will learn more about CMS’s approach to quality and quality measurement, as well as the future of quality reporting programs.

Following Dr. Duseja’s presentation, the second mini-track session will take place from 3:40 to 4:25 p.m. It will focus more intently on the processes around health care policy making.

“We heard from our members who attended this mini-track at the past two annual conferences that they would like us to explain how policy making works: the play-by-play in D.C. on how we get to where we are,” Mr. Boswell said.

The second session will feature a presentation by Jennifer Bell, founding partner at Chamber Hill Strategies, who represents SHM in Washington. “Jennifer will be discussing how Washington works, the policy process and the pressure points at which SHM and its members can exert influence,” Mr. Lapps said.

Attendees can expect to learn a lot from either session, Mr. Lapps said. “Attendees will learn about the basic contours of the Quality Payment Program that Medicare oversees, and some of the specific new elements of that program this year that were designed with hospitalists in mind. For example, Dr. Duseja will be talking about a facility-based reporting option under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of some of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measures and quality measurement. This is a really exciting opportunity to hear from someone who is both a clinician and works on policy at CMS.”

The policy mini-track offers hospitalists a chance to get a look “behind the curtain” at policy making from someone who is helping to write the rules.

“Attendees will gain insight on where they fit in these programs – and also have the opportunity to tell Dr. Duseja if they don’t feel these programs are a good fit for them,” Mr. Boswell said. “Oftentimes these programs are not structured ideally for hospitalists. So, hearing directly from hospitalists who are experiencing problems would be extraordinarily helpful to a CMS official. I think attendees should view the policy track not only as an opportunity to learn from CMS, but as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

Due to the steadily growing interest of SHM members in health care policy and advocacy issues, the 2019 Annual Conference will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

To be held on Monday, March 25th at HM19 in Orlando, the health care policy mini-track will update conference attendees on some of the Washington developments that affect hospitalists, said Josh Boswell, director of government relations at SHM.

“Many of the policy developments in D.C. are directly impacting our members’ practices,” he said. “A couple of years ago, it was decided to add a specific track at the annual conference to cover some of these policy issues, and we’ve generally had positive feedback on the sessions.”

This year, the mini-track will consist of two separate sessions, held back to back. “Both sessions are designed to give attendees an entrée into health policy and explain developments that are happening right now in Washington that impact their practice,” said Joshua Lapps, government relations manager at SHM.

The first session – “CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program” – will take place from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., and will feature Reena Duseja, MD, MS, the acting director for Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in the Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Duseja oversees the development of measures and analyses for a variety of CMS quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. She is also an emergency medicine physician and was an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, in the department of emergency medicine, where she led quality improvement activities.

“The session with Dr. Duseja will be an inside look into the approach that CMS is taking for quality measurement and pay-for-performance programs, specifically looking at the quality payment program which came out of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act,” Mr. Lapps said. “It will be a high-level discussion about how the programs affect hospitalists, and how hospitalists participate in the programs. It’s also a chance for attendees to hear some of the thinking inside CMS.”

Dr. Duseja is also hoping to get feedback from HM19 attendees. “She wants the session to be educational for our members, as well as an opportunity for her to learn from hospitalists,” Mr. Lapps said.

According to Dr. Duseja, her presentation will provide attendees with an overview of the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), specifically highlighting policy changes from 2018 to 2019 to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Meaningful Measures Initiative. Attendees will learn more about CMS’s approach to quality and quality measurement, as well as the future of quality reporting programs.

Following Dr. Duseja’s presentation, the second mini-track session will take place from 3:40 to 4:25 p.m. It will focus more intently on the processes around health care policy making.

“We heard from our members who attended this mini-track at the past two annual conferences that they would like us to explain how policy making works: the play-by-play in D.C. on how we get to where we are,” Mr. Boswell said.

The second session will feature a presentation by Jennifer Bell, founding partner at Chamber Hill Strategies, who represents SHM in Washington. “Jennifer will be discussing how Washington works, the policy process and the pressure points at which SHM and its members can exert influence,” Mr. Lapps said.

Attendees can expect to learn a lot from either session, Mr. Lapps said. “Attendees will learn about the basic contours of the Quality Payment Program that Medicare oversees, and some of the specific new elements of that program this year that were designed with hospitalists in mind. For example, Dr. Duseja will be talking about a facility-based reporting option under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of some of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measures and quality measurement. This is a really exciting opportunity to hear from someone who is both a clinician and works on policy at CMS.”

The policy mini-track offers hospitalists a chance to get a look “behind the curtain” at policy making from someone who is helping to write the rules.

“Attendees will gain insight on where they fit in these programs – and also have the opportunity to tell Dr. Duseja if they don’t feel these programs are a good fit for them,” Mr. Boswell said. “Oftentimes these programs are not structured ideally for hospitalists. So, hearing directly from hospitalists who are experiencing problems would be extraordinarily helpful to a CMS official. I think attendees should view the policy track not only as an opportunity to learn from CMS, but as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

Due to the steadily growing interest of SHM members in health care policy and advocacy issues, the 2019 Annual Conference will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

To be held on Monday, March 25th at HM19 in Orlando, the health care policy mini-track will update conference attendees on some of the Washington developments that affect hospitalists, said Josh Boswell, director of government relations at SHM.

“Many of the policy developments in D.C. are directly impacting our members’ practices,” he said. “A couple of years ago, it was decided to add a specific track at the annual conference to cover some of these policy issues, and we’ve generally had positive feedback on the sessions.”

This year, the mini-track will consist of two separate sessions, held back to back. “Both sessions are designed to give attendees an entrée into health policy and explain developments that are happening right now in Washington that impact their practice,” said Joshua Lapps, government relations manager at SHM.

The first session – “CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program” – will take place from 2:00 to 3:30 p.m., and will feature Reena Duseja, MD, MS, the acting director for Quality Measurement and Value-Based Incentives Group in the Centers for Clinical Standards and Quality at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Dr. Duseja oversees the development of measures and analyses for a variety of CMS quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. She is also an emergency medicine physician and was an associate professor at the University of California, San Francisco, in the department of emergency medicine, where she led quality improvement activities.

“The session with Dr. Duseja will be an inside look into the approach that CMS is taking for quality measurement and pay-for-performance programs, specifically looking at the quality payment program which came out of the Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act,” Mr. Lapps said. “It will be a high-level discussion about how the programs affect hospitalists, and how hospitalists participate in the programs. It’s also a chance for attendees to hear some of the thinking inside CMS.”

Dr. Duseja is also hoping to get feedback from HM19 attendees. “She wants the session to be educational for our members, as well as an opportunity for her to learn from hospitalists,” Mr. Lapps said.

According to Dr. Duseja, her presentation will provide attendees with an overview of the Quality Payment Program under the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), specifically highlighting policy changes from 2018 to 2019 to the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Meaningful Measures Initiative. Attendees will learn more about CMS’s approach to quality and quality measurement, as well as the future of quality reporting programs.

Following Dr. Duseja’s presentation, the second mini-track session will take place from 3:40 to 4:25 p.m. It will focus more intently on the processes around health care policy making.

“We heard from our members who attended this mini-track at the past two annual conferences that they would like us to explain how policy making works: the play-by-play in D.C. on how we get to where we are,” Mr. Boswell said.

The second session will feature a presentation by Jennifer Bell, founding partner at Chamber Hill Strategies, who represents SHM in Washington. “Jennifer will be discussing how Washington works, the policy process and the pressure points at which SHM and its members can exert influence,” Mr. Lapps said.

Attendees can expect to learn a lot from either session, Mr. Lapps said. “Attendees will learn about the basic contours of the Quality Payment Program that Medicare oversees, and some of the specific new elements of that program this year that were designed with hospitalists in mind. For example, Dr. Duseja will be talking about a facility-based reporting option under the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of some of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measures and quality measurement. This is a really exciting opportunity to hear from someone who is both a clinician and works on policy at CMS.”

The policy mini-track offers hospitalists a chance to get a look “behind the curtain” at policy making from someone who is helping to write the rules.

“Attendees will gain insight on where they fit in these programs – and also have the opportunity to tell Dr. Duseja if they don’t feel these programs are a good fit for them,” Mr. Boswell said. “Oftentimes these programs are not structured ideally for hospitalists. So, hearing directly from hospitalists who are experiencing problems would be extraordinarily helpful to a CMS official. I think attendees should view the policy track not only as an opportunity to learn from CMS, but as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

The Journal of Hospital Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Society of Hospital Medicine, has launched its second new series this year, entitled Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist. Alongside the new Leadership and Professional Development series, this addition plays a large role in the vision for the future of the journal, spearheaded by new editor in chief, Samir Shah, MD, MSCE, MHM.

“As a new deputy editor for reviews and perspectives, I’m thrilled to help execute Dr. Shah’s vision for a series of articles that aims to facilitate the rapid translation of the latest evidence-based guidelines into hospitalist practice,” said Erin Shaughnessy, MD. “My coeditor, Dr. Read Pierce, and I envision these reviews as tools to enable busy clinicians to quickly understand the latest research and apply it to practice.”

The March issue of JHM features an introduction to the series as well as the first two articles, “The Use of Intravenous Fluids in the Hospitalized Adult” and “Maintenance Intravenous Fluids in Infants and Children.” The introduction provides details on the formatting of the series and discusses a second format that will be introduced in 2019 called Progress Notes, which will be shorter than JHM’s traditional review format. Progress Notes will accept two types or articles, clinical and methodological, and will focus on diagnostics, therapeutics, or risk assessment and prevention of a clinical problem relevant to hospitalists.

“National guidelines and society position statements are important in informing care standards but can be time consuming to read, and only a small portion may be pertinent to the practice of hospital medicine,” Dr. Shah said. “Our Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series, under the leadership of Dr. Shaughnessy and Dr. Pierce, will distill the key elements of national guidelines with a focus on recommendations that are most relevant to the practicing hospitalist. Authors include a brief critique to ensure hospitalists understand the strength of evidence behind the guideline when making decisions.”

Along with this series comes another new feature for the journal, Hospital Medicine: The Year in Review. This annual feature “concisely compiles and critiques the top articles in both adult and pediatric hospital medicine in the past year” and “will serve as a written corollary to the popular ‘Updates in Hospital Medicine’ presentation at the SHM Annual Conference.”

With so many updates, “JHM’s overarching commitment remains unchanged: support clinicians, leaders, and scholars in our field in their pursuit of delivering evidence-based, high-value clinical care.” The journal will continue to accept traditional, long-form review on topics relevant to hospitalists.

Visit www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com for the Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series and additional research.






 

The Journal of Hospital Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Society of Hospital Medicine, has launched its second new series this year, entitled Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist. Alongside the new Leadership and Professional Development series, this addition plays a large role in the vision for the future of the journal, spearheaded by new editor in chief, Samir Shah, MD, MSCE, MHM.

“As a new deputy editor for reviews and perspectives, I’m thrilled to help execute Dr. Shah’s vision for a series of articles that aims to facilitate the rapid translation of the latest evidence-based guidelines into hospitalist practice,” said Erin Shaughnessy, MD. “My coeditor, Dr. Read Pierce, and I envision these reviews as tools to enable busy clinicians to quickly understand the latest research and apply it to practice.”

The March issue of JHM features an introduction to the series as well as the first two articles, “The Use of Intravenous Fluids in the Hospitalized Adult” and “Maintenance Intravenous Fluids in Infants and Children.” The introduction provides details on the formatting of the series and discusses a second format that will be introduced in 2019 called Progress Notes, which will be shorter than JHM’s traditional review format. Progress Notes will accept two types or articles, clinical and methodological, and will focus on diagnostics, therapeutics, or risk assessment and prevention of a clinical problem relevant to hospitalists.

“National guidelines and society position statements are important in informing care standards but can be time consuming to read, and only a small portion may be pertinent to the practice of hospital medicine,” Dr. Shah said. “Our Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series, under the leadership of Dr. Shaughnessy and Dr. Pierce, will distill the key elements of national guidelines with a focus on recommendations that are most relevant to the practicing hospitalist. Authors include a brief critique to ensure hospitalists understand the strength of evidence behind the guideline when making decisions.”

Along with this series comes another new feature for the journal, Hospital Medicine: The Year in Review. This annual feature “concisely compiles and critiques the top articles in both adult and pediatric hospital medicine in the past year” and “will serve as a written corollary to the popular ‘Updates in Hospital Medicine’ presentation at the SHM Annual Conference.”

With so many updates, “JHM’s overarching commitment remains unchanged: support clinicians, leaders, and scholars in our field in their pursuit of delivering evidence-based, high-value clinical care.” The journal will continue to accept traditional, long-form review on topics relevant to hospitalists.

Visit www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com for the Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series and additional research.






 

The Journal of Hospital Medicine, the official peer-reviewed journal of the Society of Hospital Medicine, has launched its second new series this year, entitled Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist. Alongside the new Leadership and Professional Development series, this addition plays a large role in the vision for the future of the journal, spearheaded by new editor in chief, Samir Shah, MD, MSCE, MHM.

“As a new deputy editor for reviews and perspectives, I’m thrilled to help execute Dr. Shah’s vision for a series of articles that aims to facilitate the rapid translation of the latest evidence-based guidelines into hospitalist practice,” said Erin Shaughnessy, MD. “My coeditor, Dr. Read Pierce, and I envision these reviews as tools to enable busy clinicians to quickly understand the latest research and apply it to practice.”

The March issue of JHM features an introduction to the series as well as the first two articles, “The Use of Intravenous Fluids in the Hospitalized Adult” and “Maintenance Intravenous Fluids in Infants and Children.” The introduction provides details on the formatting of the series and discusses a second format that will be introduced in 2019 called Progress Notes, which will be shorter than JHM’s traditional review format. Progress Notes will accept two types or articles, clinical and methodological, and will focus on diagnostics, therapeutics, or risk assessment and prevention of a clinical problem relevant to hospitalists.

“National guidelines and society position statements are important in informing care standards but can be time consuming to read, and only a small portion may be pertinent to the practice of hospital medicine,” Dr. Shah said. “Our Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series, under the leadership of Dr. Shaughnessy and Dr. Pierce, will distill the key elements of national guidelines with a focus on recommendations that are most relevant to the practicing hospitalist. Authors include a brief critique to ensure hospitalists understand the strength of evidence behind the guideline when making decisions.”

Along with this series comes another new feature for the journal, Hospital Medicine: The Year in Review. This annual feature “concisely compiles and critiques the top articles in both adult and pediatric hospital medicine in the past year” and “will serve as a written corollary to the popular ‘Updates in Hospital Medicine’ presentation at the SHM Annual Conference.”

With so many updates, “JHM’s overarching commitment remains unchanged: support clinicians, leaders, and scholars in our field in their pursuit of delivering evidence-based, high-value clinical care.” The journal will continue to accept traditional, long-form review on topics relevant to hospitalists.

Visit www.journalofhospitalmedicine.com for the Clinical Guideline Highlights for the Hospitalist series and additional research.






 

Every year the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Annual Conference Committee examines prior attendee surveys, reviews the content presented the preceding year, and asks itself what new areas of learning are needed by hospitalists, said Dustin Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and HM19 course director.

“The conference’s schedule-at-a-glance of content can be overwhelming, so we have tried to use distinct educational tracks to provide focus and clarity for conference attendees,” he said. “Every year there are a few areas where questions often come up about complex clinical situations where established medical guidelines aren’t much help.”

As a result, for HM19 an educational mini-track called “Between the Guidelines” was developed to gather up several of these areas of clinical complexity where what’s available in established clinical practice guidelines doesn’t offer clear answers, Dr. Smith said. These include controversies around antithrombotic therapy in patients with major bleeds, and a debate on controversial aspects of guidelines to direct inpatient care.

Another planned session, “The History of Hospitals via Arts and Stories,” fits nicely into this mini-track, Dr. Smith noted.

“It’s a history lesson you can’t glean from medical guidelines, which maybe points us toward what to incorporate and what not to repeat from across the history of hospitals,” he said. “That could help us better appreciate the work hospitalists are doing today and into the future.”

Jordan Messler, MD, a hospitalist with the Morton Plant Hospitalist group in Clearwater, Fla., will lead the session and thinks that modern physicians can learn a lot from both the history of medicine and the evolution of hospitals, starting with the ancient Greek physician, Galen (129-200 AD), who directed the celebrated Asclepeion or hospital in Pergamon (present-day Bergama, Turkey). Dr. Messler said this ancient hospital’s treatment of disease also addressed the senses, the emotions, and the spirit – an early prototype for whole-person care – with an emphasis on self-therapy through rest, relaxation, exercise, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.¹

A different perspective on hospitals

“People used to travel to Pergamon for healing at the Asclepeion, next to the amphitheater, where plays and music were presented, and to be outdoors in the natural elements. Now we’re seeing hospitals being built with healing gardens, and a new emphasis on how artwork and music and environmental design can assist in healing,” Dr. Messler said.

Dr. Messler explained that his “History of Hospitals” presentation will also survey the advent of more recent hospitals in France in the 18th century, pioneering work done at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Bellevue Hospital in New York, and the influence on the modern hospital of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). Dr. Messler said she helped improve hospitals in her day, which still influences their modern design, and fundamentally changed the role of nursing in hospitals, introducing professional training standards for nurses.

He also noted that the portico of the beautiful 15th century Hospital of the Innocents in Florence, Italy, the first organic creation of Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), marks the birth of Renaissance architecture in Florence. The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, founded in 1288, is the oldest hospital still active in Florence.

Part of the goal for this new annual conference session is to take a break from more clinically focused presentations, and to think about the hospital from a different perspective, Dr. Messler said. His session will emphasize the power of stories and storytelling to inform and inspire medical practice.

“This is not something that can be applied clinically the next day, but lessons from the past can inform the design of hospitals and how we manage patients,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves, ‘How can we analyze hospital history to inform what we do today?’ ”
 

References

“Asclepeion.” Wikipedia. Accessed Jan. 28, 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepeion.

Every year the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Annual Conference Committee examines prior attendee surveys, reviews the content presented the preceding year, and asks itself what new areas of learning are needed by hospitalists, said Dustin Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and HM19 course director.

“The conference’s schedule-at-a-glance of content can be overwhelming, so we have tried to use distinct educational tracks to provide focus and clarity for conference attendees,” he said. “Every year there are a few areas where questions often come up about complex clinical situations where established medical guidelines aren’t much help.”

As a result, for HM19 an educational mini-track called “Between the Guidelines” was developed to gather up several of these areas of clinical complexity where what’s available in established clinical practice guidelines doesn’t offer clear answers, Dr. Smith said. These include controversies around antithrombotic therapy in patients with major bleeds, and a debate on controversial aspects of guidelines to direct inpatient care.

Another planned session, “The History of Hospitals via Arts and Stories,” fits nicely into this mini-track, Dr. Smith noted.

“It’s a history lesson you can’t glean from medical guidelines, which maybe points us toward what to incorporate and what not to repeat from across the history of hospitals,” he said. “That could help us better appreciate the work hospitalists are doing today and into the future.”

Jordan Messler, MD, a hospitalist with the Morton Plant Hospitalist group in Clearwater, Fla., will lead the session and thinks that modern physicians can learn a lot from both the history of medicine and the evolution of hospitals, starting with the ancient Greek physician, Galen (129-200 AD), who directed the celebrated Asclepeion or hospital in Pergamon (present-day Bergama, Turkey). Dr. Messler said this ancient hospital’s treatment of disease also addressed the senses, the emotions, and the spirit – an early prototype for whole-person care – with an emphasis on self-therapy through rest, relaxation, exercise, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.¹

A different perspective on hospitals

“People used to travel to Pergamon for healing at the Asclepeion, next to the amphitheater, where plays and music were presented, and to be outdoors in the natural elements. Now we’re seeing hospitals being built with healing gardens, and a new emphasis on how artwork and music and environmental design can assist in healing,” Dr. Messler said.

Dr. Messler explained that his “History of Hospitals” presentation will also survey the advent of more recent hospitals in France in the 18th century, pioneering work done at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Bellevue Hospital in New York, and the influence on the modern hospital of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). Dr. Messler said she helped improve hospitals in her day, which still influences their modern design, and fundamentally changed the role of nursing in hospitals, introducing professional training standards for nurses.

He also noted that the portico of the beautiful 15th century Hospital of the Innocents in Florence, Italy, the first organic creation of Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), marks the birth of Renaissance architecture in Florence. The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, founded in 1288, is the oldest hospital still active in Florence.

Part of the goal for this new annual conference session is to take a break from more clinically focused presentations, and to think about the hospital from a different perspective, Dr. Messler said. His session will emphasize the power of stories and storytelling to inform and inspire medical practice.

“This is not something that can be applied clinically the next day, but lessons from the past can inform the design of hospitals and how we manage patients,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves, ‘How can we analyze hospital history to inform what we do today?’ ”
 

References

“Asclepeion.” Wikipedia. Accessed Jan. 28, 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepeion.

Every year the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Annual Conference Committee examines prior attendee surveys, reviews the content presented the preceding year, and asks itself what new areas of learning are needed by hospitalists, said Dustin Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta, and HM19 course director.

“The conference’s schedule-at-a-glance of content can be overwhelming, so we have tried to use distinct educational tracks to provide focus and clarity for conference attendees,” he said. “Every year there are a few areas where questions often come up about complex clinical situations where established medical guidelines aren’t much help.”

As a result, for HM19 an educational mini-track called “Between the Guidelines” was developed to gather up several of these areas of clinical complexity where what’s available in established clinical practice guidelines doesn’t offer clear answers, Dr. Smith said. These include controversies around antithrombotic therapy in patients with major bleeds, and a debate on controversial aspects of guidelines to direct inpatient care.

Another planned session, “The History of Hospitals via Arts and Stories,” fits nicely into this mini-track, Dr. Smith noted.

“It’s a history lesson you can’t glean from medical guidelines, which maybe points us toward what to incorporate and what not to repeat from across the history of hospitals,” he said. “That could help us better appreciate the work hospitalists are doing today and into the future.”

Jordan Messler, MD, a hospitalist with the Morton Plant Hospitalist group in Clearwater, Fla., will lead the session and thinks that modern physicians can learn a lot from both the history of medicine and the evolution of hospitals, starting with the ancient Greek physician, Galen (129-200 AD), who directed the celebrated Asclepeion or hospital in Pergamon (present-day Bergama, Turkey). Dr. Messler said this ancient hospital’s treatment of disease also addressed the senses, the emotions, and the spirit – an early prototype for whole-person care – with an emphasis on self-therapy through rest, relaxation, exercise, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles.¹

A different perspective on hospitals

“People used to travel to Pergamon for healing at the Asclepeion, next to the amphitheater, where plays and music were presented, and to be outdoors in the natural elements. Now we’re seeing hospitals being built with healing gardens, and a new emphasis on how artwork and music and environmental design can assist in healing,” Dr. Messler said.

Dr. Messler explained that his “History of Hospitals” presentation will also survey the advent of more recent hospitals in France in the 18th century, pioneering work done at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore and Bellevue Hospital in New York, and the influence on the modern hospital of nursing pioneer Florence Nightingale (1820-1910). Dr. Messler said she helped improve hospitals in her day, which still influences their modern design, and fundamentally changed the role of nursing in hospitals, introducing professional training standards for nurses.

He also noted that the portico of the beautiful 15th century Hospital of the Innocents in Florence, Italy, the first organic creation of Filippo Brunelleschi (1377-1446), marks the birth of Renaissance architecture in Florence. The Hospital of Santa Maria Nuova, founded in 1288, is the oldest hospital still active in Florence.

Part of the goal for this new annual conference session is to take a break from more clinically focused presentations, and to think about the hospital from a different perspective, Dr. Messler said. His session will emphasize the power of stories and storytelling to inform and inspire medical practice.

“This is not something that can be applied clinically the next day, but lessons from the past can inform the design of hospitals and how we manage patients,” he said. “We need to ask ourselves, ‘How can we analyze hospital history to inform what we do today?’ ”
 

References

“Asclepeion.” Wikipedia. Accessed Jan. 28, 2019: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asclepeion.

A new three-session minitrack devoted to the clinical mastery of diagnostic and treatment skills at the hospitalized patient’s bedside should be a highlight of the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference.

The “Clinical Mastery” track is designed to help hospitalists enhance their skills in making expert diagnoses at the bedside, said Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, course director for HM19, and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta. “We feel that all of the didactic sessions offered at HM19 are highly useful for hospitalists, but there is growing interest in having sessions devoted to learning clinical pearls that can aid in practicing medicine and acquiring the skill set of a master clinician.”

The three clinical mastery sessions at HM19 will address neurologic symptoms, ECG interpretation, and the role of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), currently a hot topic in hospital medicine. Recent advances in ultrasound technology have resulted in probes that can cost as little as $2,000, fit inside a lab coat pocket, and be read from a smartphone – making ultrasound far easier to bring to the bedside of hospitalized patients, said Ria Dancel, MD, FHM, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Dancel will copresent the POCUS clinical mastery track at HM19. “Our focus will be on how POCUS and the physical exam relate to each other. These are not competing technologies but complementary, reflecting the evolution in bedside medicine. Because these new devices will soon be in the pockets of your colleagues, residents, physician assistants, and others, you should at least have the knowledge and vocabulary to communicate with them,” she said.

POCUS is a new technology that is not yet in wide use at the hospital bedside, but clearly a wave is building, said Dr. Dancel’s copresenter, Michael Janjigian, MD, associate professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

“We’re at the inflection point where the cost of the machine and the availability of training means that hospitals need to decide if it’s time to embrace it,” he said. Hospitalists may also consider petitioning their hospital’s leadership to offer the machines and training.

“Hospitalists’ competencies and strengths lie primarily in making diagnoses,” Dr. Janjigian said. “We like to think of ourselves as master diagnosticians. Our session at HM19 will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the physical exam and POCUS, presenting clinical scenarios common to hospital medicine. This course is designed for those who have never picked up an ultrasound probe and want to better understand why they should, and for those who want a better sense of how they might integrate it into their practice.”

While radiology and cardiology have been using ultrasound for decades, internists are finding uses at the bedside to speed diagnosis or focus their next diagnostic steps, Dr. Dancel noted. For certain diagnoses, the physical exam is still the tool of choice. But when looking for fluid around the heart or ascites buildup in the abdomen or when looking at the heart itself, she said, there is no better tool at the bedside than ultrasound.

In January 2019, the SHM issued a position statement on POCUS¹, which is intended to inform hospitalists about the technology and its uses, encourage them to be more integrally involved in decision making processes surrounding POCUS program management for their hospitals, and promote development of standards for hospitalists in POCUS training and assessment. The SHM has also developed a pathway to teach the use of ultrasound, the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion.

In order to qualify, clinicians complete online training modules, attend two live learning courses, compile a portfolio of ultrasound video clips on the job that are reviewed by a panel of experts, and then pass a final exam. The exam will be offered at HM19 for clinicians who have completed preliminary work for this new certificate – as well as precourses devoted to ultrasound and other procedures – and another workshop on POCUS.

Earning the POCUS certificate of completion requires a lot of effort, Dr. Dancel acknowledged. “It is a big commitment, and we don’t want hospitalists thinking that just because they have completed the certificate that they have fully mastered ultrasound. We encourage hospitalists to find a proctor in their own hospitals and to work with them to continue to refine their skills.”

Dr. Dancel and Dr. Janjigian reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Soni NJ et al. Point-of-care ultrasound for hospitalists: A position statement of the Society of Hospital Medicine. J Hosp Med. 2019 Jan 2. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3079.

A new three-session minitrack devoted to the clinical mastery of diagnostic and treatment skills at the hospitalized patient’s bedside should be a highlight of the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference.

The “Clinical Mastery” track is designed to help hospitalists enhance their skills in making expert diagnoses at the bedside, said Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, course director for HM19, and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta. “We feel that all of the didactic sessions offered at HM19 are highly useful for hospitalists, but there is growing interest in having sessions devoted to learning clinical pearls that can aid in practicing medicine and acquiring the skill set of a master clinician.”

The three clinical mastery sessions at HM19 will address neurologic symptoms, ECG interpretation, and the role of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), currently a hot topic in hospital medicine. Recent advances in ultrasound technology have resulted in probes that can cost as little as $2,000, fit inside a lab coat pocket, and be read from a smartphone – making ultrasound far easier to bring to the bedside of hospitalized patients, said Ria Dancel, MD, FHM, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Dancel will copresent the POCUS clinical mastery track at HM19. “Our focus will be on how POCUS and the physical exam relate to each other. These are not competing technologies but complementary, reflecting the evolution in bedside medicine. Because these new devices will soon be in the pockets of your colleagues, residents, physician assistants, and others, you should at least have the knowledge and vocabulary to communicate with them,” she said.

POCUS is a new technology that is not yet in wide use at the hospital bedside, but clearly a wave is building, said Dr. Dancel’s copresenter, Michael Janjigian, MD, associate professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

“We’re at the inflection point where the cost of the machine and the availability of training means that hospitals need to decide if it’s time to embrace it,” he said. Hospitalists may also consider petitioning their hospital’s leadership to offer the machines and training.

“Hospitalists’ competencies and strengths lie primarily in making diagnoses,” Dr. Janjigian said. “We like to think of ourselves as master diagnosticians. Our session at HM19 will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the physical exam and POCUS, presenting clinical scenarios common to hospital medicine. This course is designed for those who have never picked up an ultrasound probe and want to better understand why they should, and for those who want a better sense of how they might integrate it into their practice.”

While radiology and cardiology have been using ultrasound for decades, internists are finding uses at the bedside to speed diagnosis or focus their next diagnostic steps, Dr. Dancel noted. For certain diagnoses, the physical exam is still the tool of choice. But when looking for fluid around the heart or ascites buildup in the abdomen or when looking at the heart itself, she said, there is no better tool at the bedside than ultrasound.

In January 2019, the SHM issued a position statement on POCUS¹, which is intended to inform hospitalists about the technology and its uses, encourage them to be more integrally involved in decision making processes surrounding POCUS program management for their hospitals, and promote development of standards for hospitalists in POCUS training and assessment. The SHM has also developed a pathway to teach the use of ultrasound, the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion.

In order to qualify, clinicians complete online training modules, attend two live learning courses, compile a portfolio of ultrasound video clips on the job that are reviewed by a panel of experts, and then pass a final exam. The exam will be offered at HM19 for clinicians who have completed preliminary work for this new certificate – as well as precourses devoted to ultrasound and other procedures – and another workshop on POCUS.

Earning the POCUS certificate of completion requires a lot of effort, Dr. Dancel acknowledged. “It is a big commitment, and we don’t want hospitalists thinking that just because they have completed the certificate that they have fully mastered ultrasound. We encourage hospitalists to find a proctor in their own hospitals and to work with them to continue to refine their skills.”

Dr. Dancel and Dr. Janjigian reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Soni NJ et al. Point-of-care ultrasound for hospitalists: A position statement of the Society of Hospital Medicine. J Hosp Med. 2019 Jan 2. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3079.

A new three-session minitrack devoted to the clinical mastery of diagnostic and treatment skills at the hospitalized patient’s bedside should be a highlight of the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference.

The “Clinical Mastery” track is designed to help hospitalists enhance their skills in making expert diagnoses at the bedside, said Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, course director for HM19, and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta. “We feel that all of the didactic sessions offered at HM19 are highly useful for hospitalists, but there is growing interest in having sessions devoted to learning clinical pearls that can aid in practicing medicine and acquiring the skill set of a master clinician.”

The three clinical mastery sessions at HM19 will address neurologic symptoms, ECG interpretation, and the role of point-of-care ultrasound (POCUS), currently a hot topic in hospital medicine. Recent advances in ultrasound technology have resulted in probes that can cost as little as $2,000, fit inside a lab coat pocket, and be read from a smartphone – making ultrasound far easier to bring to the bedside of hospitalized patients, said Ria Dancel, MD, FHM, associate professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Dr. Dancel will copresent the POCUS clinical mastery track at HM19. “Our focus will be on how POCUS and the physical exam relate to each other. These are not competing technologies but complementary, reflecting the evolution in bedside medicine. Because these new devices will soon be in the pockets of your colleagues, residents, physician assistants, and others, you should at least have the knowledge and vocabulary to communicate with them,” she said.

POCUS is a new technology that is not yet in wide use at the hospital bedside, but clearly a wave is building, said Dr. Dancel’s copresenter, Michael Janjigian, MD, associate professor in the department of medicine at NYU Langone Health in New York City.

“We’re at the inflection point where the cost of the machine and the availability of training means that hospitals need to decide if it’s time to embrace it,” he said. Hospitalists may also consider petitioning their hospital’s leadership to offer the machines and training.

“Hospitalists’ competencies and strengths lie primarily in making diagnoses,” Dr. Janjigian said. “We like to think of ourselves as master diagnosticians. Our session at HM19 will explore the strengths and weaknesses of both the physical exam and POCUS, presenting clinical scenarios common to hospital medicine. This course is designed for those who have never picked up an ultrasound probe and want to better understand why they should, and for those who want a better sense of how they might integrate it into their practice.”

While radiology and cardiology have been using ultrasound for decades, internists are finding uses at the bedside to speed diagnosis or focus their next diagnostic steps, Dr. Dancel noted. For certain diagnoses, the physical exam is still the tool of choice. But when looking for fluid around the heart or ascites buildup in the abdomen or when looking at the heart itself, she said, there is no better tool at the bedside than ultrasound.

In January 2019, the SHM issued a position statement on POCUS¹, which is intended to inform hospitalists about the technology and its uses, encourage them to be more integrally involved in decision making processes surrounding POCUS program management for their hospitals, and promote development of standards for hospitalists in POCUS training and assessment. The SHM has also developed a pathway to teach the use of ultrasound, the Point-of-Care Ultrasound Certificate of Completion.

In order to qualify, clinicians complete online training modules, attend two live learning courses, compile a portfolio of ultrasound video clips on the job that are reviewed by a panel of experts, and then pass a final exam. The exam will be offered at HM19 for clinicians who have completed preliminary work for this new certificate – as well as precourses devoted to ultrasound and other procedures – and another workshop on POCUS.

Earning the POCUS certificate of completion requires a lot of effort, Dr. Dancel acknowledged. “It is a big commitment, and we don’t want hospitalists thinking that just because they have completed the certificate that they have fully mastered ultrasound. We encourage hospitalists to find a proctor in their own hospitals and to work with them to continue to refine their skills.”

Dr. Dancel and Dr. Janjigian reported no relevant disclosures.

References

1. Soni NJ et al. Point-of-care ultrasound for hospitalists: A position statement of the Society of Hospital Medicine. J Hosp Med. 2019 Jan 2. doi: 10.12788/jhm.3079.

As course director for the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference – Hospital Medicine 2019 (HM19) – to be held March 24-27 in National Harbor, Md., Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, tried his best to apply democratic processes to the work of the annual conference committee.

“We created numerous email surveys to go out to the 20 committee members for their vote. So many great topics were proposed for HM19, with so many great faculty, that we had to make hard choices – although we see that as a good problem. It was my job to make sure that we had a process that works,” Dr. Smith explained. “We have planned what we believe will be another well-attended and well-received hospital medicine conference. Every year it’s been great, but every year we try something to make it a little better.”

The SHM annual conference committee meets in person at the conference to kick off planning for the following year’s conference, then holds weekly conference calls for the next 4-5 months, Dr. Smith said. “These are all highly creative leaders in hospital medicine, with voices to be heard and taken under consideration.”

Committee members wear badges at the annual meeting to encourage attendees to offer them feedback and suggestions. “We have our ears to the ground. We look at the session ratings from prior years, speaker ratings, and all of the feedback we have received, and we take all of that into account to come up with new ideas for educational tracks,” Dr. Smith said. New for 2019 are “Between the Guidelines” and “Clinical Mastery”. “We went around the table at our meeting and asked everybody for their ideas for new tracks, and then we voted in the most popular ones.”

One change for 2019 was to “completely open” the call for submission of proposals – and for nominations of content to be covered and who should present it – for all sessions at HM19, not just for the workshop tracks. Dr. Smith said all submissions were peer reviewed by committee members and scored with objective ratings.

“For example, there was a lot of interest in emergency and disaster preparedness for hospitalists in a number of the submissions. Whether we’re talking about wildfires or mass shootings, it affects hospitals, and we are among the frontline practitioners for whatever happens in those hospitals. So we may need to be able to respond to large-scale emergencies,” he said. “But most of us haven’t been trained for that.”

A love of teaching

Dr. Smith’s preparation for being the HM19 course director includes his work teaching medical students, residents, and physicians at Emory University where he also attended medical school. He chairs the Emory division of hospital medicine’s education council, directs hospital medicine grand rounds at Emory, and serves as associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory as well as a section chief for education in medical specialty at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Smith has also codirected, since 2012, the annual Southern Hospital Medicine regional conference.

“I have long had an interest in medical education for medical students, trainees, and faculty and I wanted to do more of it – with a number of mentors encouraging me along the way,” he said. “I have planned and coordinated teaching sessions needed for maintenance of board certification, which is similar to what we will present at HM19. Based on that experience, I applied to be on SHM’s annual conference committee, starting in 2012 for the planning of Hospital Medicine 2013. I believe I have been preparing myself all along to take on this role.”

A well-rounded program

The HM19 educational program will be well rounded, Dr. Smith said, offering clinical updates on topics such as sepsis, heart failure, and new clinical practice guidelines.

“You will see a big focus on wellness and how to avoid burnout, as well as other sessions on how to develop and sustain a career in hospital medicine,” he said. Another important HM19 theme will be the delivery of new models of population health and accountable care and their impact on both patients and hospital operations.

The 2019 agenda emphasizes other interactive formats, such as the “Great Debates,” where experts in the field are paired to debate clinical conundrums in hospital medicine. The number of Great Debates has grown from one on perioperative medicine at the 2017 annual conference, to three in 2018, and now to seven planned for 2019. “This format is very popular. We’re also planning ‘Medical Jeopardy,’ with three brilliant master clinicians in a quiz show format, and two ‘Stump the Professor’ sessions with expert diagnosticians,” Dr. Smith said.

It’s important to make every session at the conference interactive to engage attendees in learning from, and talking to, experts in the field, he said. “But it’s also important for some of them to be more entertaining in approach as a way to encourage learning. We know that this actually increases retention of information.”

The annual conference course director typically is selected several years in advance, in order to plan for the time commitment that will be required, and spends the year before this term as assistant course director. “It is a big honor to serve as course director. It’s fun and exciting to work with such a talented and diverse committee, but it’s also a lot of work,” Dr. Smith acknowledged. “I reviewed all 450 session proposals from this year’s open call for course content. The volume of emails is pretty outstanding, and I was extremely busy with conference planning for a season.”

Dr. Smith has continued to pursue his full-time commitments at Emory, without getting dedicated time off for planning the SHM conference. “But as a parent of three young children, I already feel busy all the time,” he said. “I put in a lot of late nights, but I found a way to make it work.”

As course director for the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference – Hospital Medicine 2019 (HM19) – to be held March 24-27 in National Harbor, Md., Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, tried his best to apply democratic processes to the work of the annual conference committee.

“We created numerous email surveys to go out to the 20 committee members for their vote. So many great topics were proposed for HM19, with so many great faculty, that we had to make hard choices – although we see that as a good problem. It was my job to make sure that we had a process that works,” Dr. Smith explained. “We have planned what we believe will be another well-attended and well-received hospital medicine conference. Every year it’s been great, but every year we try something to make it a little better.”

The SHM annual conference committee meets in person at the conference to kick off planning for the following year’s conference, then holds weekly conference calls for the next 4-5 months, Dr. Smith said. “These are all highly creative leaders in hospital medicine, with voices to be heard and taken under consideration.”

Committee members wear badges at the annual meeting to encourage attendees to offer them feedback and suggestions. “We have our ears to the ground. We look at the session ratings from prior years, speaker ratings, and all of the feedback we have received, and we take all of that into account to come up with new ideas for educational tracks,” Dr. Smith said. New for 2019 are “Between the Guidelines” and “Clinical Mastery”. “We went around the table at our meeting and asked everybody for their ideas for new tracks, and then we voted in the most popular ones.”

One change for 2019 was to “completely open” the call for submission of proposals – and for nominations of content to be covered and who should present it – for all sessions at HM19, not just for the workshop tracks. Dr. Smith said all submissions were peer reviewed by committee members and scored with objective ratings.

“For example, there was a lot of interest in emergency and disaster preparedness for hospitalists in a number of the submissions. Whether we’re talking about wildfires or mass shootings, it affects hospitals, and we are among the frontline practitioners for whatever happens in those hospitals. So we may need to be able to respond to large-scale emergencies,” he said. “But most of us haven’t been trained for that.”

A love of teaching

Dr. Smith’s preparation for being the HM19 course director includes his work teaching medical students, residents, and physicians at Emory University where he also attended medical school. He chairs the Emory division of hospital medicine’s education council, directs hospital medicine grand rounds at Emory, and serves as associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory as well as a section chief for education in medical specialty at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Smith has also codirected, since 2012, the annual Southern Hospital Medicine regional conference.

“I have long had an interest in medical education for medical students, trainees, and faculty and I wanted to do more of it – with a number of mentors encouraging me along the way,” he said. “I have planned and coordinated teaching sessions needed for maintenance of board certification, which is similar to what we will present at HM19. Based on that experience, I applied to be on SHM’s annual conference committee, starting in 2012 for the planning of Hospital Medicine 2013. I believe I have been preparing myself all along to take on this role.”

A well-rounded program

The HM19 educational program will be well rounded, Dr. Smith said, offering clinical updates on topics such as sepsis, heart failure, and new clinical practice guidelines.

“You will see a big focus on wellness and how to avoid burnout, as well as other sessions on how to develop and sustain a career in hospital medicine,” he said. Another important HM19 theme will be the delivery of new models of population health and accountable care and their impact on both patients and hospital operations.

The 2019 agenda emphasizes other interactive formats, such as the “Great Debates,” where experts in the field are paired to debate clinical conundrums in hospital medicine. The number of Great Debates has grown from one on perioperative medicine at the 2017 annual conference, to three in 2018, and now to seven planned for 2019. “This format is very popular. We’re also planning ‘Medical Jeopardy,’ with three brilliant master clinicians in a quiz show format, and two ‘Stump the Professor’ sessions with expert diagnosticians,” Dr. Smith said.

It’s important to make every session at the conference interactive to engage attendees in learning from, and talking to, experts in the field, he said. “But it’s also important for some of them to be more entertaining in approach as a way to encourage learning. We know that this actually increases retention of information.”

The annual conference course director typically is selected several years in advance, in order to plan for the time commitment that will be required, and spends the year before this term as assistant course director. “It is a big honor to serve as course director. It’s fun and exciting to work with such a talented and diverse committee, but it’s also a lot of work,” Dr. Smith acknowledged. “I reviewed all 450 session proposals from this year’s open call for course content. The volume of emails is pretty outstanding, and I was extremely busy with conference planning for a season.”

Dr. Smith has continued to pursue his full-time commitments at Emory, without getting dedicated time off for planning the SHM conference. “But as a parent of three young children, I already feel busy all the time,” he said. “I put in a lot of late nights, but I found a way to make it work.”

As course director for the Society of Hospital Medicine’s 2019 annual conference – Hospital Medicine 2019 (HM19) – to be held March 24-27 in National Harbor, Md., Dustin T. Smith, MD, SFHM, hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at Emory University, Atlanta, tried his best to apply democratic processes to the work of the annual conference committee.

“We created numerous email surveys to go out to the 20 committee members for their vote. So many great topics were proposed for HM19, with so many great faculty, that we had to make hard choices – although we see that as a good problem. It was my job to make sure that we had a process that works,” Dr. Smith explained. “We have planned what we believe will be another well-attended and well-received hospital medicine conference. Every year it’s been great, but every year we try something to make it a little better.”

The SHM annual conference committee meets in person at the conference to kick off planning for the following year’s conference, then holds weekly conference calls for the next 4-5 months, Dr. Smith said. “These are all highly creative leaders in hospital medicine, with voices to be heard and taken under consideration.”

Committee members wear badges at the annual meeting to encourage attendees to offer them feedback and suggestions. “We have our ears to the ground. We look at the session ratings from prior years, speaker ratings, and all of the feedback we have received, and we take all of that into account to come up with new ideas for educational tracks,” Dr. Smith said. New for 2019 are “Between the Guidelines” and “Clinical Mastery”. “We went around the table at our meeting and asked everybody for their ideas for new tracks, and then we voted in the most popular ones.”

One change for 2019 was to “completely open” the call for submission of proposals – and for nominations of content to be covered and who should present it – for all sessions at HM19, not just for the workshop tracks. Dr. Smith said all submissions were peer reviewed by committee members and scored with objective ratings.

“For example, there was a lot of interest in emergency and disaster preparedness for hospitalists in a number of the submissions. Whether we’re talking about wildfires or mass shootings, it affects hospitals, and we are among the frontline practitioners for whatever happens in those hospitals. So we may need to be able to respond to large-scale emergencies,” he said. “But most of us haven’t been trained for that.”

A love of teaching

Dr. Smith’s preparation for being the HM19 course director includes his work teaching medical students, residents, and physicians at Emory University where he also attended medical school. He chairs the Emory division of hospital medicine’s education council, directs hospital medicine grand rounds at Emory, and serves as associate program director for the J. Willis Hurst Internal Medicine Residency Program at Emory as well as a section chief for education in medical specialty at the Atlanta Veterans Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Smith has also codirected, since 2012, the annual Southern Hospital Medicine regional conference.

“I have long had an interest in medical education for medical students, trainees, and faculty and I wanted to do more of it – with a number of mentors encouraging me along the way,” he said. “I have planned and coordinated teaching sessions needed for maintenance of board certification, which is similar to what we will present at HM19. Based on that experience, I applied to be on SHM’s annual conference committee, starting in 2012 for the planning of Hospital Medicine 2013. I believe I have been preparing myself all along to take on this role.”

A well-rounded program

The HM19 educational program will be well rounded, Dr. Smith said, offering clinical updates on topics such as sepsis, heart failure, and new clinical practice guidelines.

“You will see a big focus on wellness and how to avoid burnout, as well as other sessions on how to develop and sustain a career in hospital medicine,” he said. Another important HM19 theme will be the delivery of new models of population health and accountable care and their impact on both patients and hospital operations.

The 2019 agenda emphasizes other interactive formats, such as the “Great Debates,” where experts in the field are paired to debate clinical conundrums in hospital medicine. The number of Great Debates has grown from one on perioperative medicine at the 2017 annual conference, to three in 2018, and now to seven planned for 2019. “This format is very popular. We’re also planning ‘Medical Jeopardy,’ with three brilliant master clinicians in a quiz show format, and two ‘Stump the Professor’ sessions with expert diagnosticians,” Dr. Smith said.

It’s important to make every session at the conference interactive to engage attendees in learning from, and talking to, experts in the field, he said. “But it’s also important for some of them to be more entertaining in approach as a way to encourage learning. We know that this actually increases retention of information.”

The annual conference course director typically is selected several years in advance, in order to plan for the time commitment that will be required, and spends the year before this term as assistant course director. “It is a big honor to serve as course director. It’s fun and exciting to work with such a talented and diverse committee, but it’s also a lot of work,” Dr. Smith acknowledged. “I reviewed all 450 session proposals from this year’s open call for course content. The volume of emails is pretty outstanding, and I was extremely busy with conference planning for a season.”

Dr. Smith has continued to pursue his full-time commitments at Emory, without getting dedicated time off for planning the SHM conference. “But as a parent of three young children, I already feel busy all the time,” he said. “I put in a lot of late nights, but I found a way to make it work.”

Flora Kisuule, MD, SFHM, has been awarded the 2018 Excellence in Service and Professionalism Award by Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore. Dr. Kisuule is associate director of the division of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Kisuule codeveloped a hospitalist fellowship program for Johns Hopkins University, which she now directs. She has served on several Society of Hospital Medicine committees and consulted on hospitalist programs around the world. Dr. Kisuule is joining the SHM Board of Directors in March 2019.

Paul Hain, DO, was promoted recently to chief medical officer and senior vice president of market delivery for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas. Dr. Hain has a wealth of experience in leadership, including helping create the pediatric hospitalist program at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.

With BC/BS, Dr. Hain will oversee the region’s public relations, community investments, government relations, and lobbying. He will help sponsor Medicare and Medicaid in the state, while also supporting enterprise and marketing efforts. Dr. Hain joins BC/BS after serving as vice president and medical director of population health and network development at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Laura M. Rosch, DO, recently was selected by Kansas City University as the new campus dean in the Joplin (Mo.) College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Rosch is a practicing hospitalist in Illinois, where she was chair of internal medicine at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine prior to taking her current position.

Dr. Rosch will manage daily operations for the Joplin medical school, streamlining the school with the main campus. She is a former president of the Illinois Osteopathic Medicine Society and holds a master’s degree in nutrition science.

Suzan Lowry, MD, has been named health officer for Charles County, Md., by the county Department of Health and Charles County Commissioners. A longtime pediatrician with 20 years’ experience, Dr. Lowry has served as a pediatric hospitalist educator at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Lowry has spent a majority of her career working on behalf of public health. Most recently, she has worked at the United States Marine Corps Quantico Health Clinic in Virginia.

Robyn Chase, DO, a staff hospitalist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (Prescott, Ariz.), recently was selected as the hospital’s Physician of the Year for 2018.

Dr. Chase has practiced at YRMC since 2010 and is a board-certified internist. She also serves as an associate professor at the University of Arizona, Phoenix.

Kevin Dishman, MD, has been elevated to senior vice president and chief medical officer at Stormont Vail Health (Topeka, Kan.). Dr. Dishman also will be president of Stormont medical services division’s medical staff.

Dr. Dishman came to Stormont in 2000 to work as a hospitalist. Most recently, he has served as the center’s vice president of acute care services. In his new role, Dr. Dishman will be charged with, among other duties, seeking out physicians to bring to Stormont’s Topeka location.

BUSINESS MOVES

The Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Women’s Center (Hollister, Calif.) recently established a relationship with Pediatrix Medical Group (Sunrise, Fla.) to provide pediatric hospitalists to help with high-risk delivery of newborns. The hospitalists also will advise Hazel Hawkins staff with regards to critical care transport and assist with the care of newborns and the treatment of child and teen patients.

Hazel Hawkins has been in operation for the past 5 years. Pediatrix hospitalists will be used as consultants for attending staff and emergency physicians and will help treat patients in emergency situations.

American Physician Partners (Brentwood, Tenn.), a national hospital medicine management services company, has acquired private physician group Progressive Medical Associates (Mesa, Ariz.). Progressive’s 37 physicians and 21 private clinicians – working at Banner Health’s 28 nonprofit hospitals covering six states – join the APP team.

Flora Kisuule, MD, SFHM, has been awarded the 2018 Excellence in Service and Professionalism Award by Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore. Dr. Kisuule is associate director of the division of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Kisuule codeveloped a hospitalist fellowship program for Johns Hopkins University, which she now directs. She has served on several Society of Hospital Medicine committees and consulted on hospitalist programs around the world. Dr. Kisuule is joining the SHM Board of Directors in March 2019.

Paul Hain, DO, was promoted recently to chief medical officer and senior vice president of market delivery for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas. Dr. Hain has a wealth of experience in leadership, including helping create the pediatric hospitalist program at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.

With BC/BS, Dr. Hain will oversee the region’s public relations, community investments, government relations, and lobbying. He will help sponsor Medicare and Medicaid in the state, while also supporting enterprise and marketing efforts. Dr. Hain joins BC/BS after serving as vice president and medical director of population health and network development at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Laura M. Rosch, DO, recently was selected by Kansas City University as the new campus dean in the Joplin (Mo.) College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Rosch is a practicing hospitalist in Illinois, where she was chair of internal medicine at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine prior to taking her current position.

Dr. Rosch will manage daily operations for the Joplin medical school, streamlining the school with the main campus. She is a former president of the Illinois Osteopathic Medicine Society and holds a master’s degree in nutrition science.

Suzan Lowry, MD, has been named health officer for Charles County, Md., by the county Department of Health and Charles County Commissioners. A longtime pediatrician with 20 years’ experience, Dr. Lowry has served as a pediatric hospitalist educator at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Lowry has spent a majority of her career working on behalf of public health. Most recently, she has worked at the United States Marine Corps Quantico Health Clinic in Virginia.

Robyn Chase, DO, a staff hospitalist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (Prescott, Ariz.), recently was selected as the hospital’s Physician of the Year for 2018.

Dr. Chase has practiced at YRMC since 2010 and is a board-certified internist. She also serves as an associate professor at the University of Arizona, Phoenix.

Kevin Dishman, MD, has been elevated to senior vice president and chief medical officer at Stormont Vail Health (Topeka, Kan.). Dr. Dishman also will be president of Stormont medical services division’s medical staff.

Dr. Dishman came to Stormont in 2000 to work as a hospitalist. Most recently, he has served as the center’s vice president of acute care services. In his new role, Dr. Dishman will be charged with, among other duties, seeking out physicians to bring to Stormont’s Topeka location.

BUSINESS MOVES

The Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Women’s Center (Hollister, Calif.) recently established a relationship with Pediatrix Medical Group (Sunrise, Fla.) to provide pediatric hospitalists to help with high-risk delivery of newborns. The hospitalists also will advise Hazel Hawkins staff with regards to critical care transport and assist with the care of newborns and the treatment of child and teen patients.

Hazel Hawkins has been in operation for the past 5 years. Pediatrix hospitalists will be used as consultants for attending staff and emergency physicians and will help treat patients in emergency situations.

American Physician Partners (Brentwood, Tenn.), a national hospital medicine management services company, has acquired private physician group Progressive Medical Associates (Mesa, Ariz.). Progressive’s 37 physicians and 21 private clinicians – working at Banner Health’s 28 nonprofit hospitals covering six states – join the APP team.

Flora Kisuule, MD, SFHM, has been awarded the 2018 Excellence in Service and Professionalism Award by Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, Baltimore. Dr. Kisuule is associate director of the division of hospital medicine at Johns Hopkins Bayview, assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and assistant professor in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

Dr. Kisuule codeveloped a hospitalist fellowship program for Johns Hopkins University, which she now directs. She has served on several Society of Hospital Medicine committees and consulted on hospitalist programs around the world. Dr. Kisuule is joining the SHM Board of Directors in March 2019.

Paul Hain, DO, was promoted recently to chief medical officer and senior vice president of market delivery for Blue Cross/Blue Shield of Texas. Dr. Hain has a wealth of experience in leadership, including helping create the pediatric hospitalist program at Vanderbilt Children’s Hospital in Nashville, Tenn.

With BC/BS, Dr. Hain will oversee the region’s public relations, community investments, government relations, and lobbying. He will help sponsor Medicare and Medicaid in the state, while also supporting enterprise and marketing efforts. Dr. Hain joins BC/BS after serving as vice president and medical director of population health and network development at the Children’s Medical Center of Dallas.

Laura M. Rosch, DO, recently was selected by Kansas City University as the new campus dean in the Joplin (Mo.) College of Osteopathic Medicine. Dr. Rosch is a practicing hospitalist in Illinois, where she was chair of internal medicine at the Chicago College of Osteopathic Medicine prior to taking her current position.

Dr. Rosch will manage daily operations for the Joplin medical school, streamlining the school with the main campus. She is a former president of the Illinois Osteopathic Medicine Society and holds a master’s degree in nutrition science.

Suzan Lowry, MD, has been named health officer for Charles County, Md., by the county Department of Health and Charles County Commissioners. A longtime pediatrician with 20 years’ experience, Dr. Lowry has served as a pediatric hospitalist educator at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Dr. Lowry has spent a majority of her career working on behalf of public health. Most recently, she has worked at the United States Marine Corps Quantico Health Clinic in Virginia.

Robyn Chase, DO, a staff hospitalist at Yavapai Regional Medical Center (Prescott, Ariz.), recently was selected as the hospital’s Physician of the Year for 2018.

Dr. Chase has practiced at YRMC since 2010 and is a board-certified internist. She also serves as an associate professor at the University of Arizona, Phoenix.

Kevin Dishman, MD, has been elevated to senior vice president and chief medical officer at Stormont Vail Health (Topeka, Kan.). Dr. Dishman also will be president of Stormont medical services division’s medical staff.

Dr. Dishman came to Stormont in 2000 to work as a hospitalist. Most recently, he has served as the center’s vice president of acute care services. In his new role, Dr. Dishman will be charged with, among other duties, seeking out physicians to bring to Stormont’s Topeka location.

BUSINESS MOVES

The Hazel Hawkins Memorial Hospital Women’s Center (Hollister, Calif.) recently established a relationship with Pediatrix Medical Group (Sunrise, Fla.) to provide pediatric hospitalists to help with high-risk delivery of newborns. The hospitalists also will advise Hazel Hawkins staff with regards to critical care transport and assist with the care of newborns and the treatment of child and teen patients.

Hazel Hawkins has been in operation for the past 5 years. Pediatrix hospitalists will be used as consultants for attending staff and emergency physicians and will help treat patients in emergency situations.

American Physician Partners (Brentwood, Tenn.), a national hospital medicine management services company, has acquired private physician group Progressive Medical Associates (Mesa, Ariz.). Progressive’s 37 physicians and 21 private clinicians – working at Banner Health’s 28 nonprofit hospitals covering six states – join the APP team.