Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, is not an SHM newbie. Since becoming a member in 1999, he has served on the awards and annual meeting committees, and he is the current chair of the Public Policy Committee. So when he learned he was elected to a three-year term as SHM’s newest board member, he says, he was excited about the opportunity to continue to work with “old friends.”

Dr. Siegal is a Critical Care Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and previously served as regional medical director for Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. TH eWire caught up with him just as he finished attending his first board meeting at HM10.

What unique perspective do you bring to the board?

I think I have a pretty varied experience. I ran both community and academic hospitalist programs. And I obviously have the policy bent, which, with all that is going with healthcare policy reform, I think it will be important to have someone on the board who has a fair degree of fluency with that. Although I will also say that two other board members come from the policy committee, so I’m by no means alone.

What kind of issues do you look forward to getting involved in?

The two areas that interest me most are healthcare policy and how hospitalists are going to interface with the critical-care environment. We know there is a large percentage, if not a majority, of hospitalists practicing critical-care medicine, some of whom may be appropriately trained to do so and others who are not. I think there are opportunities to figure out how hospitalists can and should participate in the critical care of patients. Hopefully, we can pair up with critical-care societies to figure out how we’re going to address the massive and growing shortage of critical-care physicians in the U.S.

Where do you see SHM in 10 years?

I would like to see us recognized as part of the solution to making healthcare better. We have worked very hard up to now to demonstrate to legislators, insurers, and people in the quality world that SHM [that] although we do advocate for members, we also advocate for healthcare reform. I think, unfortunately, that many professional societies start and end primarily with what is in the best financial interest of their membership. We have gone to great lengths not to be that: to be seen as an organization that is part of the solution to healthcare, not part of the problem. … I would hope that in 10 years that would not only be widely accepted throughout the healthcare community, but that when Congress or [the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services] looks around and thinks about who are the people who they can work with to make things better, hospital medicine is at the top of the list.

Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, is not an SHM newbie. Since becoming a member in 1999, he has served on the awards and annual meeting committees, and he is the current chair of the Public Policy Committee. So when he learned he was elected to a three-year term as SHM’s newest board member, he says, he was excited about the opportunity to continue to work with “old friends.”

Dr. Siegal is a Critical Care Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and previously served as regional medical director for Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. TH eWire caught up with him just as he finished attending his first board meeting at HM10.

What unique perspective do you bring to the board?

I think I have a pretty varied experience. I ran both community and academic hospitalist programs. And I obviously have the policy bent, which, with all that is going with healthcare policy reform, I think it will be important to have someone on the board who has a fair degree of fluency with that. Although I will also say that two other board members come from the policy committee, so I’m by no means alone.

What kind of issues do you look forward to getting involved in?

The two areas that interest me most are healthcare policy and how hospitalists are going to interface with the critical-care environment. We know there is a large percentage, if not a majority, of hospitalists practicing critical-care medicine, some of whom may be appropriately trained to do so and others who are not. I think there are opportunities to figure out how hospitalists can and should participate in the critical care of patients. Hopefully, we can pair up with critical-care societies to figure out how we’re going to address the massive and growing shortage of critical-care physicians in the U.S.

Where do you see SHM in 10 years?

I would like to see us recognized as part of the solution to making healthcare better. We have worked very hard up to now to demonstrate to legislators, insurers, and people in the quality world that SHM [that] although we do advocate for members, we also advocate for healthcare reform. I think, unfortunately, that many professional societies start and end primarily with what is in the best financial interest of their membership. We have gone to great lengths not to be that: to be seen as an organization that is part of the solution to healthcare, not part of the problem. … I would hope that in 10 years that would not only be widely accepted throughout the healthcare community, but that when Congress or [the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services] looks around and thinks about who are the people who they can work with to make things better, hospital medicine is at the top of the list.

Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, is not an SHM newbie. Since becoming a member in 1999, he has served on the awards and annual meeting committees, and he is the current chair of the Public Policy Committee. So when he learned he was elected to a three-year term as SHM’s newest board member, he says, he was excited about the opportunity to continue to work with “old friends.”

Dr. Siegal is a Critical Care Fellow at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, and previously served as regional medical director for Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare. TH eWire caught up with him just as he finished attending his first board meeting at HM10.

What unique perspective do you bring to the board?

I think I have a pretty varied experience. I ran both community and academic hospitalist programs. And I obviously have the policy bent, which, with all that is going with healthcare policy reform, I think it will be important to have someone on the board who has a fair degree of fluency with that. Although I will also say that two other board members come from the policy committee, so I’m by no means alone.

What kind of issues do you look forward to getting involved in?

The two areas that interest me most are healthcare policy and how hospitalists are going to interface with the critical-care environment. We know there is a large percentage, if not a majority, of hospitalists practicing critical-care medicine, some of whom may be appropriately trained to do so and others who are not. I think there are opportunities to figure out how hospitalists can and should participate in the critical care of patients. Hopefully, we can pair up with critical-care societies to figure out how we’re going to address the massive and growing shortage of critical-care physicians in the U.S.

Where do you see SHM in 10 years?

I would like to see us recognized as part of the solution to making healthcare better. We have worked very hard up to now to demonstrate to legislators, insurers, and people in the quality world that SHM [that] although we do advocate for members, we also advocate for healthcare reform. I think, unfortunately, that many professional societies start and end primarily with what is in the best financial interest of their membership. We have gone to great lengths not to be that: to be seen as an organization that is part of the solution to healthcare, not part of the problem. … I would hope that in 10 years that would not only be widely accepted throughout the healthcare community, but that when Congress or [the Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services] looks around and thinks about who are the people who they can work with to make things better, hospital medicine is at the top of the list.

Clinical question: What is the rate of symptomatic upper-extremity DVT (UEDVT), and what are the predictors of UEDVT development in a cohort of hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs)?

Background: PICCs are used in hospitalized patients and increase VTE risk. Investigators in this study sought to determine the incidence of VTE associated with PICCs in a cohort of hospitalized patients.

Study design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: University-affiliated community hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Synopsis: Over a three-month period, 954 PICCs were placed in 777 patients. Ninety percent of the patients were placed due to poor venous access. Thirty-eight (4.89%) developed at least one VTE, giving a rate of 5.10 VTEs per 1,000 PICC-days; 27 (3.47%) developed UEDVT, giving a rate of 3.65 UEDVTs per 1,000 PICC-days; eight (1.03%) had PE. Patients with VTE had a significantly longer LOS (26 days vs. 15.8 days), and average PICC-days were significantly longer in patients with VTE (13 days vs. 9 days).

In multivariate analysis, the strongest predictors of PICC-associated VTE were previous history of VTE (OR 10.83, 95% CI, 4.89-23.95), PICC tip in noncentral location (OR 2.61, 95% CI, 1.28-5.35), and duration of stay in 10-day increments (OR 1.21, 95% CI, 1.07-1.37).

This study likely underestimates the rate of VTE because symptomatic VTE specifically was assessed. This study and other studies indicate that VTE occurrence in patients with PICC lines is significant; more judicious use of PICC lines is needed and minimizing the length of time PICC lines are in place is important.

Bottom line: In hospitalized patients with PICC lines, previous history of VTE, noncentral location of the PICC tip, and duration of placement are significant predictors of VTE.

Citation: Lobo BL, Vaidean G, Broyles J, Reaves AB, Shorr RI. Risk of venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters. J Hosp Med. 2009;4(7):417-422.

Reviewed for TH eWire by Sameer Badlani, MD, Stacy S. Banerjee, MD, Alan J. Jung, MD, Elizabeth Marlow, MD, MPP, Valerie G. Press, MD, MPH, Milda R. Saunders, MD, MPH, Nilam J. Soni, MD, Srilaxmi Tumuluri, MD, Section of Hospital Medicine, University of Chicago

For more reviews of HM-related literature, visit our Web site.

Clinical question: What is the rate of symptomatic upper-extremity DVT (UEDVT), and what are the predictors of UEDVT development in a cohort of hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs)?

Background: PICCs are used in hospitalized patients and increase VTE risk. Investigators in this study sought to determine the incidence of VTE associated with PICCs in a cohort of hospitalized patients.

Study design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: University-affiliated community hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Synopsis: Over a three-month period, 954 PICCs were placed in 777 patients. Ninety percent of the patients were placed due to poor venous access. Thirty-eight (4.89%) developed at least one VTE, giving a rate of 5.10 VTEs per 1,000 PICC-days; 27 (3.47%) developed UEDVT, giving a rate of 3.65 UEDVTs per 1,000 PICC-days; eight (1.03%) had PE. Patients with VTE had a significantly longer LOS (26 days vs. 15.8 days), and average PICC-days were significantly longer in patients with VTE (13 days vs. 9 days).

In multivariate analysis, the strongest predictors of PICC-associated VTE were previous history of VTE (OR 10.83, 95% CI, 4.89-23.95), PICC tip in noncentral location (OR 2.61, 95% CI, 1.28-5.35), and duration of stay in 10-day increments (OR 1.21, 95% CI, 1.07-1.37).

This study likely underestimates the rate of VTE because symptomatic VTE specifically was assessed. This study and other studies indicate that VTE occurrence in patients with PICC lines is significant; more judicious use of PICC lines is needed and minimizing the length of time PICC lines are in place is important.

Bottom line: In hospitalized patients with PICC lines, previous history of VTE, noncentral location of the PICC tip, and duration of placement are significant predictors of VTE.

Citation: Lobo BL, Vaidean G, Broyles J, Reaves AB, Shorr RI. Risk of venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters. J Hosp Med. 2009;4(7):417-422.

Reviewed for TH eWire by Sameer Badlani, MD, Stacy S. Banerjee, MD, Alan J. Jung, MD, Elizabeth Marlow, MD, MPP, Valerie G. Press, MD, MPH, Milda R. Saunders, MD, MPH, Nilam J. Soni, MD, Srilaxmi Tumuluri, MD, Section of Hospital Medicine, University of Chicago

For more reviews of HM-related literature, visit our Web site.

Clinical question: What is the rate of symptomatic upper-extremity DVT (UEDVT), and what are the predictors of UEDVT development in a cohort of hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters (PICCs)?

Background: PICCs are used in hospitalized patients and increase VTE risk. Investigators in this study sought to determine the incidence of VTE associated with PICCs in a cohort of hospitalized patients.

Study design: Retrospective chart review.

Setting: University-affiliated community hospital in Memphis, Tenn.

Synopsis: Over a three-month period, 954 PICCs were placed in 777 patients. Ninety percent of the patients were placed due to poor venous access. Thirty-eight (4.89%) developed at least one VTE, giving a rate of 5.10 VTEs per 1,000 PICC-days; 27 (3.47%) developed UEDVT, giving a rate of 3.65 UEDVTs per 1,000 PICC-days; eight (1.03%) had PE. Patients with VTE had a significantly longer LOS (26 days vs. 15.8 days), and average PICC-days were significantly longer in patients with VTE (13 days vs. 9 days).

In multivariate analysis, the strongest predictors of PICC-associated VTE were previous history of VTE (OR 10.83, 95% CI, 4.89-23.95), PICC tip in noncentral location (OR 2.61, 95% CI, 1.28-5.35), and duration of stay in 10-day increments (OR 1.21, 95% CI, 1.07-1.37).

This study likely underestimates the rate of VTE because symptomatic VTE specifically was assessed. This study and other studies indicate that VTE occurrence in patients with PICC lines is significant; more judicious use of PICC lines is needed and minimizing the length of time PICC lines are in place is important.

Bottom line: In hospitalized patients with PICC lines, previous history of VTE, noncentral location of the PICC tip, and duration of placement are significant predictors of VTE.

Citation: Lobo BL, Vaidean G, Broyles J, Reaves AB, Shorr RI. Risk of venous thromboembolism in hospitalized patients with peripherally inserted central catheters. J Hosp Med. 2009;4(7):417-422.

Reviewed for TH eWire by Sameer Badlani, MD, Stacy S. Banerjee, MD, Alan J. Jung, MD, Elizabeth Marlow, MD, MPP, Valerie G. Press, MD, MPH, Milda R. Saunders, MD, MPH, Nilam J. Soni, MD, Srilaxmi Tumuluri, MD, Section of Hospital Medicine, University of Chicago

For more reviews of HM-related literature, visit our Web site.

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The HM movement over the past two decades has matured into a defined specialty, but must now take charge of quality improvement (QI) in hospital settings if it hopes to “go to that next level,” the new SHM president declared at the annual meeting this morning.

“We’re at a stage as an organization that we need to continue to do the quality education efforts, but we need to start rising to that next level, which is the quality execution and solutions,” said President Jeffrey Wiese, MD, FACP, SFHM, associate professor of medicine at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

Dr. Wiese said that within five years he expects SHM to have crafted an interactive database listing all HM-led QI projects. He envisions the information as a resource for hospitalists looking to lead projects, as well as a “grand menu of potential practice improvement modules” to satisfy the new Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine Maintenance of Certification through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

“We have great heterogeneity in the society,” Dr. Wiese said after his address. “Some people are quality experts because they received great training from SHM, Intermountain Health, IHI, but then there are many members that are interested and really want to be that quality expert, but are to the left on the continuum, still learning how to do it."

The new president capped a morning of speechifying from outgoing President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, SFHM. Both reveled in HM’s growth, but agreed that to sustain that momentum more of the estimated 30,000 hospitalists in the U.S. need to get more involved in promoting and pushing the practice.

“We really need to engage everybody," Dr. Flanders said. "We need all 60,000 hands on deck.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The HM movement over the past two decades has matured into a defined specialty, but must now take charge of quality improvement (QI) in hospital settings if it hopes to “go to that next level,” the new SHM president declared at the annual meeting this morning.

“We’re at a stage as an organization that we need to continue to do the quality education efforts, but we need to start rising to that next level, which is the quality execution and solutions,” said President Jeffrey Wiese, MD, FACP, SFHM, associate professor of medicine at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

Dr. Wiese said that within five years he expects SHM to have crafted an interactive database listing all HM-led QI projects. He envisions the information as a resource for hospitalists looking to lead projects, as well as a “grand menu of potential practice improvement modules” to satisfy the new Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine Maintenance of Certification through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

“We have great heterogeneity in the society,” Dr. Wiese said after his address. “Some people are quality experts because they received great training from SHM, Intermountain Health, IHI, but then there are many members that are interested and really want to be that quality expert, but are to the left on the continuum, still learning how to do it."

The new president capped a morning of speechifying from outgoing President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, SFHM. Both reveled in HM’s growth, but agreed that to sustain that momentum more of the estimated 30,000 hospitalists in the U.S. need to get more involved in promoting and pushing the practice.

“We really need to engage everybody," Dr. Flanders said. "We need all 60,000 hands on deck.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — The HM movement over the past two decades has matured into a defined specialty, but must now take charge of quality improvement (QI) in hospital settings if it hopes to “go to that next level,” the new SHM president declared at the annual meeting this morning.

“We’re at a stage as an organization that we need to continue to do the quality education efforts, but we need to start rising to that next level, which is the quality execution and solutions,” said President Jeffrey Wiese, MD, FACP, SFHM, associate professor of medicine at Tulane University Health Sciences Center in New Orleans.

Dr. Wiese said that within five years he expects SHM to have crafted an interactive database listing all HM-led QI projects. He envisions the information as a resource for hospitalists looking to lead projects, as well as a “grand menu of potential practice improvement modules” to satisfy the new Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine Maintenance of Certification through the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM).

“We have great heterogeneity in the society,” Dr. Wiese said after his address. “Some people are quality experts because they received great training from SHM, Intermountain Health, IHI, but then there are many members that are interested and really want to be that quality expert, but are to the left on the continuum, still learning how to do it."

The new president capped a morning of speechifying from outgoing President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division, University of Michigan Health System, Ann Arbor, and SHM CEO Larry Wellikson, MD, SFHM. Both reveled in HM’s growth, but agreed that to sustain that momentum more of the estimated 30,000 hospitalists in the U.S. need to get more involved in promoting and pushing the practice.

“We really need to engage everybody," Dr. Flanders said. "We need all 60,000 hands on deck.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, and Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, were presented $50,000 Junior Faculty Development Awards this morning at HM10. The first-year awards are part of SHM’s commitment to helping the “generation of new knowledge,” said Scott Flanders, SHM’s outgoing president.

Dr. Kangelaris, a fellow in internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, focuses her research on continued clinical and biologic genetic risk-prediction algorithms that will improve the triage and early-management strategies for hospitalized patients with inflammatory illness.

Dr. Fieldston, an assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, plans to use his award to examine the association between dynamic aspects of workload, workforce, and quality of care at children’s hospitals.

SHM also handed out its annual Awards of Excellence and announced winners from the Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignette (PDF) competition. Judges scored more than 400 posters; some of the winning project teams included medical students.

“I am particularly proud to see that we had medical students as award winners,” said Flanders, chief of the hospital medicine division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. “That gives me great hope for the future of HM.”

Awards of Excellence

• Clinical Excellence: Jennifer Myers (pictured), MD, FHM, patient safety officer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania;
• Excellence in Research: Margaret Fang, MD, MPH, FHM, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco;
• Outstanding Service in Hospital Medicine: Mitchell Wilson, MD, SFHM, corporate medical director for Eagle Hospital Physicians;
• Excellence in Teaching: Amir Jaffer, associate professor of medicine, chief of the hospital medicine division in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami (Fla.); and
• Excellence in Teamwork in Quality Improvement: Emory Healthcare’s VTE Prevention Team.

Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignettes winners

• Research: Will Southern, MD, MS, and Julia Arnsten, MD, MPH, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.: “Increased Mortality and Readmission Among Patients Discharged against Medical Advice.”
• Innovation Poster: Aaron Farberg, BS, Andrew Lin, BS, Latoya Kuhn, MPH, Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, University of Michigan Medical School, “Dear Doctor: A Tool to Facilitate Patient-Centered Care and Enhance Communication.”
• Adult Vignette: Jennie Wei, MD, and Patrick Kneeland, MD, University of California at San Francisco, “A Case of Skin Ulcers and Neutropenia: Definitely Not a Helminth Problem.”
• Pediatric Vignette: Harry Hoar, MD, Baystate Children’s Hospitalist, Springfield, Mass., “A Teen with Varices: An Uncommon Presentation of a Familiar Disease.”

 

 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, and Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, were presented $50,000 Junior Faculty Development Awards this morning at HM10. The first-year awards are part of SHM’s commitment to helping the “generation of new knowledge,” said Scott Flanders, SHM’s outgoing president.

Dr. Kangelaris, a fellow in internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, focuses her research on continued clinical and biologic genetic risk-prediction algorithms that will improve the triage and early-management strategies for hospitalized patients with inflammatory illness.

Dr. Fieldston, an assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, plans to use his award to examine the association between dynamic aspects of workload, workforce, and quality of care at children’s hospitals.

SHM also handed out its annual Awards of Excellence and announced winners from the Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignette (PDF) competition. Judges scored more than 400 posters; some of the winning project teams included medical students.

“I am particularly proud to see that we had medical students as award winners,” said Flanders, chief of the hospital medicine division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. “That gives me great hope for the future of HM.”

Awards of Excellence

• Clinical Excellence: Jennifer Myers (pictured), MD, FHM, patient safety officer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania;
• Excellence in Research: Margaret Fang, MD, MPH, FHM, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco;
• Outstanding Service in Hospital Medicine: Mitchell Wilson, MD, SFHM, corporate medical director for Eagle Hospital Physicians;
• Excellence in Teaching: Amir Jaffer, associate professor of medicine, chief of the hospital medicine division in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami (Fla.); and
• Excellence in Teamwork in Quality Improvement: Emory Healthcare’s VTE Prevention Team.

Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignettes winners

• Research: Will Southern, MD, MS, and Julia Arnsten, MD, MPH, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.: “Increased Mortality and Readmission Among Patients Discharged against Medical Advice.”
• Innovation Poster: Aaron Farberg, BS, Andrew Lin, BS, Latoya Kuhn, MPH, Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, University of Michigan Medical School, “Dear Doctor: A Tool to Facilitate Patient-Centered Care and Enhance Communication.”
• Adult Vignette: Jennie Wei, MD, and Patrick Kneeland, MD, University of California at San Francisco, “A Case of Skin Ulcers and Neutropenia: Definitely Not a Helminth Problem.”
• Pediatric Vignette: Harry Hoar, MD, Baystate Children’s Hospitalist, Springfield, Mass., “A Teen with Varices: An Uncommon Presentation of a Familiar Disease.”

 

 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Kirsten Kangelaris, MD, and Evan Fieldston, MD, MBA, MSHP, were presented $50,000 Junior Faculty Development Awards this morning at HM10. The first-year awards are part of SHM’s commitment to helping the “generation of new knowledge,” said Scott Flanders, SHM’s outgoing president.

Dr. Kangelaris, a fellow in internal medicine at the University of California at San Francisco, focuses her research on continued clinical and biologic genetic risk-prediction algorithms that will improve the triage and early-management strategies for hospitalized patients with inflammatory illness.

Dr. Fieldston, an assistant professor in pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, plans to use his award to examine the association between dynamic aspects of workload, workforce, and quality of care at children’s hospitals.

SHM also handed out its annual Awards of Excellence and announced winners from the Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignette (PDF) competition. Judges scored more than 400 posters; some of the winning project teams included medical students.

“I am particularly proud to see that we had medical students as award winners,” said Flanders, chief of the hospital medicine division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor. “That gives me great hope for the future of HM.”

Awards of Excellence

• Clinical Excellence: Jennifer Myers (pictured), MD, FHM, patient safety officer at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania;
• Excellence in Research: Margaret Fang, MD, MPH, FHM, assistant professor of medicine at the University of California at San Francisco;
• Outstanding Service in Hospital Medicine: Mitchell Wilson, MD, SFHM, corporate medical director for Eagle Hospital Physicians;
• Excellence in Teaching: Amir Jaffer, associate professor of medicine, chief of the hospital medicine division in the Department of Medicine at the University of Miami (Fla.); and
• Excellence in Teamwork in Quality Improvement: Emory Healthcare’s VTE Prevention Team.

Research, Innovation, and Clinical Vignettes winners

• Research: Will Southern, MD, MS, and Julia Arnsten, MD, MPH, Montefiore Medical Center, Bronx, N.Y.: “Increased Mortality and Readmission Among Patients Discharged against Medical Advice.”
• Innovation Poster: Aaron Farberg, BS, Andrew Lin, BS, Latoya Kuhn, MPH, Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, Christopher Kim, MD, MBA, University of Michigan Medical School, “Dear Doctor: A Tool to Facilitate Patient-Centered Care and Enhance Communication.”
• Adult Vignette: Jennie Wei, MD, and Patrick Kneeland, MD, University of California at San Francisco, “A Case of Skin Ulcers and Neutropenia: Definitely Not a Helminth Problem.”
• Pediatric Vignette: Harry Hoar, MD, Baystate Children’s Hospitalist, Springfield, Mass., “A Teen with Varices: An Uncommon Presentation of a Familiar Disease.”

 

 

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Hospitalists are poised to take the reins of implementing the landmark healthcare reform package signed into law two weeks ago.

“It creates challenges for us; it creates great opportunities for us,” Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, SFHM, chief medical officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare, and a member of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, said during a panel discussion this morning at HM10. “Saddle up, because we’re going to be asked to do a lot of things.”

Just what the most meaningful healthcare legislation since Medicare was passed in 1965 will mean for hospitalists is murky. Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, chair of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, noted that a skeptic can look at bundling payments as a negative influence on HM compensation, while a supporter might argue that a revised revenue methodology could streamline operations, align interests and eventually be a boon to the bottom line.

Either way, outgoing SHM President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, wants all hospitalists to be prepared for inevitable discussions of how to improve quality of care and reduce costs.

“The timing couldn’t be more fortuitous,” Dr. Flanders said, referring to the fact the annual meeting is being held just miles from the Capitol. “We are about to experience some sea changes in healthcare in the United States.”

Leslie Norwalk, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), noted that much of the reform would hinge on pay incentives and the ability to properly fund programs that encourage new ideas, particularly the proposed Council on Technology and Innovation. Without proper funding, many elements of the health reform legislation could go by the wayside, said Norwalk, now a lawyer in Washington.

“You get what you pay for,” she added. “If you stop paying for readmission—at least avoidable readmission…then I imagine that this trend would change.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Hospitalists are poised to take the reins of implementing the landmark healthcare reform package signed into law two weeks ago.

“It creates challenges for us; it creates great opportunities for us,” Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, SFHM, chief medical officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare, and a member of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, said during a panel discussion this morning at HM10. “Saddle up, because we’re going to be asked to do a lot of things.”

Just what the most meaningful healthcare legislation since Medicare was passed in 1965 will mean for hospitalists is murky. Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, chair of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, noted that a skeptic can look at bundling payments as a negative influence on HM compensation, while a supporter might argue that a revised revenue methodology could streamline operations, align interests and eventually be a boon to the bottom line.

Either way, outgoing SHM President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, wants all hospitalists to be prepared for inevitable discussions of how to improve quality of care and reduce costs.

“The timing couldn’t be more fortuitous,” Dr. Flanders said, referring to the fact the annual meeting is being held just miles from the Capitol. “We are about to experience some sea changes in healthcare in the United States.”

Leslie Norwalk, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), noted that much of the reform would hinge on pay incentives and the ability to properly fund programs that encourage new ideas, particularly the proposed Council on Technology and Innovation. Without proper funding, many elements of the health reform legislation could go by the wayside, said Norwalk, now a lawyer in Washington.

“You get what you pay for,” she added. “If you stop paying for readmission—at least avoidable readmission…then I imagine that this trend would change.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – Hospitalists are poised to take the reins of implementing the landmark healthcare reform package signed into law two weeks ago.

“It creates challenges for us; it creates great opportunities for us,” Ron Greeno, MD, FCCP, SFHM, chief medical officer of Brentwood, Tenn.-based Cogent Healthcare, and a member of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, said during a panel discussion this morning at HM10. “Saddle up, because we’re going to be asked to do a lot of things.”

Just what the most meaningful healthcare legislation since Medicare was passed in 1965 will mean for hospitalists is murky. Eric Siegal, MD, SFHM, chair of SHM’s Public Policy Committee, noted that a skeptic can look at bundling payments as a negative influence on HM compensation, while a supporter might argue that a revised revenue methodology could streamline operations, align interests and eventually be a boon to the bottom line.

Either way, outgoing SHM President Scott Flanders, MD, SFHM, director of the hospitalist division at the University of Michigan Health System in Ann Arbor, wants all hospitalists to be prepared for inevitable discussions of how to improve quality of care and reduce costs.

“The timing couldn’t be more fortuitous,” Dr. Flanders said, referring to the fact the annual meeting is being held just miles from the Capitol. “We are about to experience some sea changes in healthcare in the United States.”

Leslie Norwalk, former acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), noted that much of the reform would hinge on pay incentives and the ability to properly fund programs that encourage new ideas, particularly the proposed Council on Technology and Innovation. Without proper funding, many elements of the health reform legislation could go by the wayside, said Norwalk, now a lawyer in Washington.

“You get what you pay for,” she added. “If you stop paying for readmission—at least avoidable readmission…then I imagine that this trend would change.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Paul Levy doesn’t take well to the idea that things just happen in a hospital, whether it’s a central-line infection, a patient fall, or an accommodation for excellence.

Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, insists that improvement be a central tenet of his institution—and the only way to improve things is to monitor them first to establish a baseline.

Many of the roughly 2,500 hospitalists gathered for HM10 here might have expected Levy to talk about the recently passed healthcare reform package. Surprisingly, he instead told them to “ignore the healthcare reform bill" during this morning’s keynote address.

“Ignore all the fuss about it," he said. "Focus instead on the underlying values that you each have individually, and that you have collectively, as to why you became docs in the first place.”

Levy, who is not a physician, has quickly made a name as a leading voice in quality and transparency discussions, particularly via his popular blog. This morning, he told thousands of hospitalists that while change can be difficult, “we are doing too much harm in our hospitals.” He encouraged hospitalists to take charge of quality programs and point out processes and systems that could be improved.

And while he didn’t discount the federal mandate to provide increased access to medical care, he noted that the future delivery of care will improve as a function of thoughtful analysis and dedicated work, not because of new budgeting rules.

“It won’t be because we changed the payment regime,” Levy boasted. “It will be because you did the job.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Paul Levy doesn’t take well to the idea that things just happen in a hospital, whether it’s a central-line infection, a patient fall, or an accommodation for excellence.

Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, insists that improvement be a central tenet of his institution—and the only way to improve things is to monitor them first to establish a baseline.

Many of the roughly 2,500 hospitalists gathered for HM10 here might have expected Levy to talk about the recently passed healthcare reform package. Surprisingly, he instead told them to “ignore the healthcare reform bill" during this morning’s keynote address.

“Ignore all the fuss about it," he said. "Focus instead on the underlying values that you each have individually, and that you have collectively, as to why you became docs in the first place.”

Levy, who is not a physician, has quickly made a name as a leading voice in quality and transparency discussions, particularly via his popular blog. This morning, he told thousands of hospitalists that while change can be difficult, “we are doing too much harm in our hospitals.” He encouraged hospitalists to take charge of quality programs and point out processes and systems that could be improved.

And while he didn’t discount the federal mandate to provide increased access to medical care, he noted that the future delivery of care will improve as a function of thoughtful analysis and dedicated work, not because of new budgeting rules.

“It won’t be because we changed the payment regime,” Levy boasted. “It will be because you did the job.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. — Paul Levy doesn’t take well to the idea that things just happen in a hospital, whether it’s a central-line infection, a patient fall, or an accommodation for excellence.

Levy, president and CEO of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, insists that improvement be a central tenet of his institution—and the only way to improve things is to monitor them first to establish a baseline.

Many of the roughly 2,500 hospitalists gathered for HM10 here might have expected Levy to talk about the recently passed healthcare reform package. Surprisingly, he instead told them to “ignore the healthcare reform bill" during this morning’s keynote address.

“Ignore all the fuss about it," he said. "Focus instead on the underlying values that you each have individually, and that you have collectively, as to why you became docs in the first place.”

Levy, who is not a physician, has quickly made a name as a leading voice in quality and transparency discussions, particularly via his popular blog. This morning, he told thousands of hospitalists that while change can be difficult, “we are doing too much harm in our hospitals.” He encouraged hospitalists to take charge of quality programs and point out processes and systems that could be improved.

And while he didn’t discount the federal mandate to provide increased access to medical care, he noted that the future delivery of care will improve as a function of thoughtful analysis and dedicated work, not because of new budgeting rules.

“It won’t be because we changed the payment regime,” Levy boasted. “It will be because you did the job.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The next cohort of sites for SHM’s transitional-care program will be 20 California hospitals and health centers.

The agreement to expand Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safer Transitions) was made public by society cofounder Win Whitcomb, MD, MHM, chief quality officer at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., during an academic pre-course session Thursday at HM10 just outside Washington, D.C.

It’s the second major expansion of the program this year. In January, 15 sites in Michigan entered into a collaborative BOOST program to be comanaged by the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Although details are still pending for the California model, it will be a collaboration with the California HealthCare Foundation, an independent nonprofit focused on improving healthcare and reducing costs in the Golden State.

BOOST works by pairing mentors with hospitalists at select institutions to improve care via a discharge planning toolkit. BOOST debuted late in 2008 with six pilot sites. After the California additions, the platform will have expanded to 65 sites.

Dr. Whitcomb’s news was just one of the tidbits tossed out during the practice management pre-course, one of eight daylong courses for hospitalists. Two new pre-courses debuted this year: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

“It’s a very good learning environment where you can sit down and focus,” said Julius Yang, MD, PhD, a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the course director for the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) learning session. “It allows you to really immerse yourself in the information.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The next cohort of sites for SHM’s transitional-care program will be 20 California hospitals and health centers.

The agreement to expand Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safer Transitions) was made public by society cofounder Win Whitcomb, MD, MHM, chief quality officer at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., during an academic pre-course session Thursday at HM10 just outside Washington, D.C.

It’s the second major expansion of the program this year. In January, 15 sites in Michigan entered into a collaborative BOOST program to be comanaged by the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Although details are still pending for the California model, it will be a collaboration with the California HealthCare Foundation, an independent nonprofit focused on improving healthcare and reducing costs in the Golden State.

BOOST works by pairing mentors with hospitalists at select institutions to improve care via a discharge planning toolkit. BOOST debuted late in 2008 with six pilot sites. After the California additions, the platform will have expanded to 65 sites.

Dr. Whitcomb’s news was just one of the tidbits tossed out during the practice management pre-course, one of eight daylong courses for hospitalists. Two new pre-courses debuted this year: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

“It’s a very good learning environment where you can sit down and focus,” said Julius Yang, MD, PhD, a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the course director for the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) learning session. “It allows you to really immerse yourself in the information.”

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. – The next cohort of sites for SHM’s transitional-care program will be 20 California hospitals and health centers.

The agreement to expand Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older Adults through Safer Transitions) was made public by society cofounder Win Whitcomb, MD, MHM, chief quality officer at Mercy Medical Center in Springfield, Mass., during an academic pre-course session Thursday at HM10 just outside Washington, D.C.

It’s the second major expansion of the program this year. In January, 15 sites in Michigan entered into a collaborative BOOST program to be comanaged by the University of Michigan and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan. Although details are still pending for the California model, it will be a collaboration with the California HealthCare Foundation, an independent nonprofit focused on improving healthcare and reducing costs in the Golden State.

BOOST works by pairing mentors with hospitalists at select institutions to improve care via a discharge planning toolkit. BOOST debuted late in 2008 with six pilot sites. After the California additions, the platform will have expanded to 65 sites.

Dr. Whitcomb’s news was just one of the tidbits tossed out during the practice management pre-course, one of eight daylong courses for hospitalists. Two new pre-courses debuted this year: “Early Career Hospitalist: Skills for Success” and “Essential Neurology for the Hospitalist.”

“It’s a very good learning environment where you can sit down and focus,” said Julius Yang, MD, PhD, a hospitalist at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the course director for the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) learning session. “It allows you to really immerse yourself in the information.”

For an early-career hospitalist like Michele DeKorte, MD, HM10 offers a plethora of opportunities for practical knowledge and bushels of take-home points. “This is my first time, and I’m excited to be here,” Dr. DeKorte said moments after registering for HM10 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C.

Dr. DeKorte, who has worked as a hospitalist at the University of California at San Diego since 2008, is one of a record 2,500 hospitalists registered for SHM’s annual meeting. She and hundreds of other hospitalists were taking part in Thursday’s lineup of pre-courses.

“I’m doing the procedures pre-course [Essential Procedures for the Hospitalist A Hands-on Experience] in the afternoon. I like procedures, so I think it will be fun,” she said, noting she will focus on the clinical track throughout the four-day event, which features more than 90 educational sessions. “It’s more interesting to me at this stage of the game. I want to have a better idea of how people are practicing HM around the country.”

Catherine Fitzgerald, DO, has worked as a hospitalist since 2005 and is attending her first annual meeting. For two years, she worked in an administrative role with CPMG at St. Joseph’s Memorial Hospital in Denver, and she plans to attend a smattering of practice-management sessions. “I also sit on our heart-failure committee at St. Joseph’s, so I have signed up for the session ‘How to Prevent Heart Failure Readmissions.’” she explained. “The meeting sessions are good reviews of things you already know, and interspersed in the discussions usually are these little pearls of new knowledge for your practice.”

In addition to aiming to improve her HM practice, Dr. Fitzgerald is excited to be in the nation’s capital with loved ones. Dr. Fitzgerald’s mother and 6-year-old son are scheduled to visit the White House.

“I’ll be at the conference all day, but that’s OK,” she said, with a hint of jealousy. “It was snowing in Denver, and we had to de-ice the plane last night. It’s 80 and sunny here, so this is beautiful.”

One of Dr. DeKorte’s colleagues at UCSD, Diana Childers, MD, was filling up the tank of knowledge in the “Documentation and Coding for Hospitalists” pre-course. Dr. Childers is one of the UCSD group’s billing experts, and Dr. DeKorte was looking forward to picking her brain.

“It’s still overwhelming to me,” Dr. DeKorte says. “I’m hoping she’ll pass along the nuggets, the gems of billing and coding.”

For an early-career hospitalist like Michele DeKorte, MD, HM10 offers a plethora of opportunities for practical knowledge and bushels of take-home points. “This is my first time, and I’m excited to be here,” Dr. DeKorte said moments after registering for HM10 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C.

Dr. DeKorte, who has worked as a hospitalist at the University of California at San Diego since 2008, is one of a record 2,500 hospitalists registered for SHM’s annual meeting. She and hundreds of other hospitalists were taking part in Thursday’s lineup of pre-courses.

“I’m doing the procedures pre-course [Essential Procedures for the Hospitalist A Hands-on Experience] in the afternoon. I like procedures, so I think it will be fun,” she said, noting she will focus on the clinical track throughout the four-day event, which features more than 90 educational sessions. “It’s more interesting to me at this stage of the game. I want to have a better idea of how people are practicing HM around the country.”

Catherine Fitzgerald, DO, has worked as a hospitalist since 2005 and is attending her first annual meeting. For two years, she worked in an administrative role with CPMG at St. Joseph’s Memorial Hospital in Denver, and she plans to attend a smattering of practice-management sessions. “I also sit on our heart-failure committee at St. Joseph’s, so I have signed up for the session ‘How to Prevent Heart Failure Readmissions.’” she explained. “The meeting sessions are good reviews of things you already know, and interspersed in the discussions usually are these little pearls of new knowledge for your practice.”

In addition to aiming to improve her HM practice, Dr. Fitzgerald is excited to be in the nation’s capital with loved ones. Dr. Fitzgerald’s mother and 6-year-old son are scheduled to visit the White House.

“I’ll be at the conference all day, but that’s OK,” she said, with a hint of jealousy. “It was snowing in Denver, and we had to de-ice the plane last night. It’s 80 and sunny here, so this is beautiful.”

One of Dr. DeKorte’s colleagues at UCSD, Diana Childers, MD, was filling up the tank of knowledge in the “Documentation and Coding for Hospitalists” pre-course. Dr. Childers is one of the UCSD group’s billing experts, and Dr. DeKorte was looking forward to picking her brain.

“It’s still overwhelming to me,” Dr. DeKorte says. “I’m hoping she’ll pass along the nuggets, the gems of billing and coding.”

For an early-career hospitalist like Michele DeKorte, MD, HM10 offers a plethora of opportunities for practical knowledge and bushels of take-home points. “This is my first time, and I’m excited to be here,” Dr. DeKorte said moments after registering for HM10 at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center just outside Washington, D.C.

Dr. DeKorte, who has worked as a hospitalist at the University of California at San Diego since 2008, is one of a record 2,500 hospitalists registered for SHM’s annual meeting. She and hundreds of other hospitalists were taking part in Thursday’s lineup of pre-courses.

“I’m doing the procedures pre-course [Essential Procedures for the Hospitalist A Hands-on Experience] in the afternoon. I like procedures, so I think it will be fun,” she said, noting she will focus on the clinical track throughout the four-day event, which features more than 90 educational sessions. “It’s more interesting to me at this stage of the game. I want to have a better idea of how people are practicing HM around the country.”

Catherine Fitzgerald, DO, has worked as a hospitalist since 2005 and is attending her first annual meeting. For two years, she worked in an administrative role with CPMG at St. Joseph’s Memorial Hospital in Denver, and she plans to attend a smattering of practice-management sessions. “I also sit on our heart-failure committee at St. Joseph’s, so I have signed up for the session ‘How to Prevent Heart Failure Readmissions.’” she explained. “The meeting sessions are good reviews of things you already know, and interspersed in the discussions usually are these little pearls of new knowledge for your practice.”

In addition to aiming to improve her HM practice, Dr. Fitzgerald is excited to be in the nation’s capital with loved ones. Dr. Fitzgerald’s mother and 6-year-old son are scheduled to visit the White House.

“I’ll be at the conference all day, but that’s OK,” she said, with a hint of jealousy. “It was snowing in Denver, and we had to de-ice the plane last night. It’s 80 and sunny here, so this is beautiful.”

One of Dr. DeKorte’s colleagues at UCSD, Diana Childers, MD, was filling up the tank of knowledge in the “Documentation and Coding for Hospitalists” pre-course. Dr. Childers is one of the UCSD group’s billing experts, and Dr. DeKorte was looking forward to picking her brain.

“It’s still overwhelming to me,” Dr. DeKorte says. “I’m hoping she’ll pass along the nuggets, the gems of billing and coding.”