Hospitalist Takes on Academic Leadership Role

Over the last decade, hospitals have increasingly come to rely on the unique skill set offered by hospitalists.

But the University of California at Irvine has gone even further. For the past year, Dr. Alpesh Amin, founder and executive director of the university's hospitalist program, has also served as the interim chair of the department of medicine.

Dr. Amin is the first and only hospitalist to head a department of medicine at an academic medical center. The promotion, from his previous post as vice chair for clinical affairs and quality, puts him in the upper echelon of hospital and medical school leaders. And Dr. Amin said he thinks it's good for hospitalists all around.

“The message that this puts out there is that hospitalists over time can be important leaders in the institution,” he said.

Since taking on this new role in June 2008, Dr. Amin has been busy on several fronts. He oversees 11 divisions across three hospital sites and is responsible for the clinical, educational, research, and administrative missions within the department of medicine.

He is also using his perspective as a hospitalist to improve his department. On the clinical side, Dr. Amin and his colleagues have been seeking a greater alignment of services and units. They have also been working to increase collaboration among the faculty of various medical subspecialties. And on the research side, Dr. Amin has been trying to ramp up mentorship of junior faculty and aid them in pursuing grant opportunities.

“Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do,” he said. Hospitalists are in contact with virtually every member of the care team. In caring for patients, hospitalists often interact with subspecialists, surgeons, and primary care physicians who practice in the community. Hospitalists also work with pharmacists, case managers, social workers, and hospital administrators.

Hospitalists are “kind of the quarterback of the process,” Dr. Amin said.

Dr. Amin may be the only hospitalist serving this role in academia today, but that is likely to change, he said. One reason that hospitalists have not been the first choice for leadership roles in departments of medicine is that the specialty just hasn't been around that long. But as the field matures, hospitalists could be ideally positioned to help institutions face future challenges, he said.

Medical centers, both in academia and in the community, are under increasing pressure in terms of quality of care, throughput, and systems-based practice—all areas where hospitalists bring expertise, Dr. Amin said. “I think there's a lot of focus on that today, so having someone with many of those skills becomes helpful and important,” he said.

Dr. Amin was a natural fit to take over as interim chair of the department of medicine because he has a health care MBA and experience in finance and administration. At a time of scarce resources, having a record of managing assets efficiently is an advantage. Hospitalists have an excellent track record in this area, as they have ample experience in balancing tight resources with the need to make advances in quality of care, he said.

For hospitalists looking to take on greater leadership roles in their institutions, Dr. Amin recommended not only being engaged within a team of providers, but also showing individual initiative. He advised fellow hospitalists to be visible and to communicate with their colleagues and administrators about the challenges they see as well as their ideas for meeting those challenges.

'Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do.' DR. AMIN

Over the last decade, hospitals have increasingly come to rely on the unique skill set offered by hospitalists.

But the University of California at Irvine has gone even further. For the past year, Dr. Alpesh Amin, founder and executive director of the university's hospitalist program, has also served as the interim chair of the department of medicine.

Dr. Amin is the first and only hospitalist to head a department of medicine at an academic medical center. The promotion, from his previous post as vice chair for clinical affairs and quality, puts him in the upper echelon of hospital and medical school leaders. And Dr. Amin said he thinks it's good for hospitalists all around.

“The message that this puts out there is that hospitalists over time can be important leaders in the institution,” he said.

Since taking on this new role in June 2008, Dr. Amin has been busy on several fronts. He oversees 11 divisions across three hospital sites and is responsible for the clinical, educational, research, and administrative missions within the department of medicine.

He is also using his perspective as a hospitalist to improve his department. On the clinical side, Dr. Amin and his colleagues have been seeking a greater alignment of services and units. They have also been working to increase collaboration among the faculty of various medical subspecialties. And on the research side, Dr. Amin has been trying to ramp up mentorship of junior faculty and aid them in pursuing grant opportunities.

“Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do,” he said. Hospitalists are in contact with virtually every member of the care team. In caring for patients, hospitalists often interact with subspecialists, surgeons, and primary care physicians who practice in the community. Hospitalists also work with pharmacists, case managers, social workers, and hospital administrators.

Hospitalists are “kind of the quarterback of the process,” Dr. Amin said.

Dr. Amin may be the only hospitalist serving this role in academia today, but that is likely to change, he said. One reason that hospitalists have not been the first choice for leadership roles in departments of medicine is that the specialty just hasn't been around that long. But as the field matures, hospitalists could be ideally positioned to help institutions face future challenges, he said.

Medical centers, both in academia and in the community, are under increasing pressure in terms of quality of care, throughput, and systems-based practice—all areas where hospitalists bring expertise, Dr. Amin said. “I think there's a lot of focus on that today, so having someone with many of those skills becomes helpful and important,” he said.

Dr. Amin was a natural fit to take over as interim chair of the department of medicine because he has a health care MBA and experience in finance and administration. At a time of scarce resources, having a record of managing assets efficiently is an advantage. Hospitalists have an excellent track record in this area, as they have ample experience in balancing tight resources with the need to make advances in quality of care, he said.

For hospitalists looking to take on greater leadership roles in their institutions, Dr. Amin recommended not only being engaged within a team of providers, but also showing individual initiative. He advised fellow hospitalists to be visible and to communicate with their colleagues and administrators about the challenges they see as well as their ideas for meeting those challenges.

'Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do.' DR. AMIN

Over the last decade, hospitals have increasingly come to rely on the unique skill set offered by hospitalists.

But the University of California at Irvine has gone even further. For the past year, Dr. Alpesh Amin, founder and executive director of the university's hospitalist program, has also served as the interim chair of the department of medicine.

Dr. Amin is the first and only hospitalist to head a department of medicine at an academic medical center. The promotion, from his previous post as vice chair for clinical affairs and quality, puts him in the upper echelon of hospital and medical school leaders. And Dr. Amin said he thinks it's good for hospitalists all around.

“The message that this puts out there is that hospitalists over time can be important leaders in the institution,” he said.

Since taking on this new role in June 2008, Dr. Amin has been busy on several fronts. He oversees 11 divisions across three hospital sites and is responsible for the clinical, educational, research, and administrative missions within the department of medicine.

He is also using his perspective as a hospitalist to improve his department. On the clinical side, Dr. Amin and his colleagues have been seeking a greater alignment of services and units. They have also been working to increase collaboration among the faculty of various medical subspecialties. And on the research side, Dr. Amin has been trying to ramp up mentorship of junior faculty and aid them in pursuing grant opportunities.

“Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do,” he said. Hospitalists are in contact with virtually every member of the care team. In caring for patients, hospitalists often interact with subspecialists, surgeons, and primary care physicians who practice in the community. Hospitalists also work with pharmacists, case managers, social workers, and hospital administrators.

Hospitalists are “kind of the quarterback of the process,” Dr. Amin said.

Dr. Amin may be the only hospitalist serving this role in academia today, but that is likely to change, he said. One reason that hospitalists have not been the first choice for leadership roles in departments of medicine is that the specialty just hasn't been around that long. But as the field matures, hospitalists could be ideally positioned to help institutions face future challenges, he said.

Medical centers, both in academia and in the community, are under increasing pressure in terms of quality of care, throughput, and systems-based practice—all areas where hospitalists bring expertise, Dr. Amin said. “I think there's a lot of focus on that today, so having someone with many of those skills becomes helpful and important,” he said.

Dr. Amin was a natural fit to take over as interim chair of the department of medicine because he has a health care MBA and experience in finance and administration. At a time of scarce resources, having a record of managing assets efficiently is an advantage. Hospitalists have an excellent track record in this area, as they have ample experience in balancing tight resources with the need to make advances in quality of care, he said.

For hospitalists looking to take on greater leadership roles in their institutions, Dr. Amin recommended not only being engaged within a team of providers, but also showing individual initiative. He advised fellow hospitalists to be visible and to communicate with their colleagues and administrators about the challenges they see as well as their ideas for meeting those challenges.

'Hospitalists tend to look at things more broadly because of the nature of the work that they do.' DR. AMIN