George T. Grossberg, MD, gives a Masterclass lecture from the 2018 AACP Encore meeting in Las Vegas on the latest developments in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Grossberg is the Samuel W. Fordyce professor and director of geriatric psychiatry at Saint Louis University.

And later, Dr. RK talks MDQ.

You can find more from Dr. Grossberg, including videos and articles, by clicking here.

Amazon

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify


 

George T. Grossberg, MD, gives a Masterclass lecture from the 2018 AACP Encore meeting in Las Vegas on the latest developments in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Grossberg is the Samuel W. Fordyce professor and director of geriatric psychiatry at Saint Louis University.

And later, Dr. RK talks MDQ.

You can find more from Dr. Grossberg, including videos and articles, by clicking here.

Amazon

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify


 

George T. Grossberg, MD, gives a Masterclass lecture from the 2018 AACP Encore meeting in Las Vegas on the latest developments in treating Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Grossberg is the Samuel W. Fordyce professor and director of geriatric psychiatry at Saint Louis University.

And later, Dr. RK talks MDQ.

You can find more from Dr. Grossberg, including videos and articles, by clicking here.

Amazon

Apple Podcasts

Google Podcasts

Spotify


 

Daily aspirin use could actually reduce the risk of acute exacerbations of COPD. Also today, how to handle patients who won’t believe negative drug-allergy results, which complications to watch for in black patients who undergo bariatric surgery, and the measles outbreak now affects a dozen U.S. states.
Amazon Alexa
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
 

Daily aspirin use could actually reduce the risk of acute exacerbations of COPD. Also today, how to handle patients who won’t believe negative drug-allergy results, which complications to watch for in black patients who undergo bariatric surgery, and the measles outbreak now affects a dozen U.S. states.
Amazon Alexa
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
 

Daily aspirin use could actually reduce the risk of acute exacerbations of COPD. Also today, how to handle patients who won’t believe negative drug-allergy results, which complications to watch for in black patients who undergo bariatric surgery, and the measles outbreak now affects a dozen U.S. states.
Amazon Alexa
Apple Podcasts
Google Podcasts
Spotify
 

It is always good to look the patient in the eye, say researchers from Texas Tech University in Odessa, Texas, and Centro Policlinico Valencia in Venezuela. They report on the case of a patient with atheroembolism, a “rare but feared complication of arteriography.” Most commonly, it affects small-diameter vessels in the skin and kidneys.

The patient, a 69-year-old man, had a history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and unstable angina; he had a drug-eluting stent placed in the left anterior descending coronary artery 10 days before he was admitted to the hospital. He arrived at the emergency department with intense abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, oliguria, and pain in his legs and feet.

Physical examination revealed livedo reticularis (which is caused by small blood clots) in his left foot, and a tender abdomen. His creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were increased. Funduscopy showed a Hollenhorst crystal in the right inferotemporal quadrant.

He was treated with methylprednisolone, which improved the abdominal symptoms, renal function, and skin findings; then prednisone. His initial symptoms resolved over the next year.

The clinicians say the usual treatment for atheroembolism is supportive and depends on the affected organ. To their knowledge, they say, no formal studies have evaluated the use of anti-inflammatory therapies for this complication.

Funduscopy was an essential part of their examination, the researchers note, and spared the patient from invasive diagnostic studies such as biopsies. They also say that contrast-induced renal failure might have been the cause of the majority of his symptoms, but the combination of physical exam and differential diagnosis led them to the appropriate cause, as well as allowing for opportune treatment.

It is always good to look the patient in the eye, say researchers from Texas Tech University in Odessa, Texas, and Centro Policlinico Valencia in Venezuela. They report on the case of a patient with atheroembolism, a “rare but feared complication of arteriography.” Most commonly, it affects small-diameter vessels in the skin and kidneys.

The patient, a 69-year-old man, had a history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and unstable angina; he had a drug-eluting stent placed in the left anterior descending coronary artery 10 days before he was admitted to the hospital. He arrived at the emergency department with intense abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, oliguria, and pain in his legs and feet.

Physical examination revealed livedo reticularis (which is caused by small blood clots) in his left foot, and a tender abdomen. His creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were increased. Funduscopy showed a Hollenhorst crystal in the right inferotemporal quadrant.

He was treated with methylprednisolone, which improved the abdominal symptoms, renal function, and skin findings; then prednisone. His initial symptoms resolved over the next year.

The clinicians say the usual treatment for atheroembolism is supportive and depends on the affected organ. To their knowledge, they say, no formal studies have evaluated the use of anti-inflammatory therapies for this complication.

Funduscopy was an essential part of their examination, the researchers note, and spared the patient from invasive diagnostic studies such as biopsies. They also say that contrast-induced renal failure might have been the cause of the majority of his symptoms, but the combination of physical exam and differential diagnosis led them to the appropriate cause, as well as allowing for opportune treatment.

It is always good to look the patient in the eye, say researchers from Texas Tech University in Odessa, Texas, and Centro Policlinico Valencia in Venezuela. They report on the case of a patient with atheroembolism, a “rare but feared complication of arteriography.” Most commonly, it affects small-diameter vessels in the skin and kidneys.

The patient, a 69-year-old man, had a history of hypertension, type 2 diabetes, and unstable angina; he had a drug-eluting stent placed in the left anterior descending coronary artery 10 days before he was admitted to the hospital. He arrived at the emergency department with intense abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting, oliguria, and pain in his legs and feet.

Physical examination revealed livedo reticularis (which is caused by small blood clots) in his left foot, and a tender abdomen. His creatinine and blood urea nitrogen levels were increased. Funduscopy showed a Hollenhorst crystal in the right inferotemporal quadrant.

He was treated with methylprednisolone, which improved the abdominal symptoms, renal function, and skin findings; then prednisone. His initial symptoms resolved over the next year.

The clinicians say the usual treatment for atheroembolism is supportive and depends on the affected organ. To their knowledge, they say, no formal studies have evaluated the use of anti-inflammatory therapies for this complication.

Funduscopy was an essential part of their examination, the researchers note, and spared the patient from invasive diagnostic studies such as biopsies. They also say that contrast-induced renal failure might have been the cause of the majority of his symptoms, but the combination of physical exam and differential diagnosis led them to the appropriate cause, as well as allowing for opportune treatment.

With help from researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated guidance on how best to decontaminate after mass chemical exposure. This second edition of Primary Response Incident Scene Management (PRISM) incorporates new scientific evidence on emergency self-decontamination, hair decontamination, and the interactions of chemicals with hair.

The goal of working with the University of Hertfordshire was to help emergency managers and first responders make “fundamental and fast decisions on how to save the greatest number of lives in chemical emergencies,” says Rick Bright, PhD, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The study included a large-scale exercise in which > 80 volunteers were dosed with a chemical warfare agent simulant to quantify the efficacy of different forms of decontamination.

Notably, the research demonstrates that immediate “dry” decontamination—wiping down the victim with any absorbent material (eg, toilet paper, paper towels, wound dressings) can be highly effective on its own and can be done by affected individuals themselves under the instruction of first responders. The dry decontamination step removes up to 99% of contamination and minimizes the accumulation of hazardous material in the subsequent steps.

The new guidance also expands on the effects of the “triple protocol,” a combined decontamination strategy. The 3 steps of that protocol—dry decontamination, wet decontamination using water deluges from fire trucks, and technical decontamination—have been shown to remove 99.9% of chemical contamination. Moreover, the latest clinical evidence indicates that the 3-step approach is faster and more effective than traditional methods for treating chemically contaminated patients.

The guideline also addresses how communities can prepare for chemical emergencies and what to do after the event, such as providing washcloths, towels, blankets, and temporary clothing.

Federal experts and the researchers devised the Algorithm Suggesting Proportionate Incident Response Engagement (ASPIRE), a decision-support tool to help emergency management planners and responders decide which decontamination approach suits a given situation. Using the algorithm, they can tailor plans and responses based on the chemical and type of exposure, how quickly the chemical evaporates, and the amount of time passed since exposure.

ASPIRE and the guidance are integrated into the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM), a web-based resource and suite of preparedness and emergency response tools. The developers also plan to incorporate them into a mobile app.

PRISM is available at www.medicalcountermeasures.gov.

With help from researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated guidance on how best to decontaminate after mass chemical exposure. This second edition of Primary Response Incident Scene Management (PRISM) incorporates new scientific evidence on emergency self-decontamination, hair decontamination, and the interactions of chemicals with hair.

The goal of working with the University of Hertfordshire was to help emergency managers and first responders make “fundamental and fast decisions on how to save the greatest number of lives in chemical emergencies,” says Rick Bright, PhD, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The study included a large-scale exercise in which > 80 volunteers were dosed with a chemical warfare agent simulant to quantify the efficacy of different forms of decontamination.

Notably, the research demonstrates that immediate “dry” decontamination—wiping down the victim with any absorbent material (eg, toilet paper, paper towels, wound dressings) can be highly effective on its own and can be done by affected individuals themselves under the instruction of first responders. The dry decontamination step removes up to 99% of contamination and minimizes the accumulation of hazardous material in the subsequent steps.

The new guidance also expands on the effects of the “triple protocol,” a combined decontamination strategy. The 3 steps of that protocol—dry decontamination, wet decontamination using water deluges from fire trucks, and technical decontamination—have been shown to remove 99.9% of chemical contamination. Moreover, the latest clinical evidence indicates that the 3-step approach is faster and more effective than traditional methods for treating chemically contaminated patients.

The guideline also addresses how communities can prepare for chemical emergencies and what to do after the event, such as providing washcloths, towels, blankets, and temporary clothing.

Federal experts and the researchers devised the Algorithm Suggesting Proportionate Incident Response Engagement (ASPIRE), a decision-support tool to help emergency management planners and responders decide which decontamination approach suits a given situation. Using the algorithm, they can tailor plans and responses based on the chemical and type of exposure, how quickly the chemical evaporates, and the amount of time passed since exposure.

ASPIRE and the guidance are integrated into the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM), a web-based resource and suite of preparedness and emergency response tools. The developers also plan to incorporate them into a mobile app.

PRISM is available at www.medicalcountermeasures.gov.

With help from researchers from the University of Hertfordshire in the United Kingdom, The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has updated guidance on how best to decontaminate after mass chemical exposure. This second edition of Primary Response Incident Scene Management (PRISM) incorporates new scientific evidence on emergency self-decontamination, hair decontamination, and the interactions of chemicals with hair.

The goal of working with the University of Hertfordshire was to help emergency managers and first responders make “fundamental and fast decisions on how to save the greatest number of lives in chemical emergencies,” says Rick Bright, PhD, director of the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA).

The study included a large-scale exercise in which > 80 volunteers were dosed with a chemical warfare agent simulant to quantify the efficacy of different forms of decontamination.

Notably, the research demonstrates that immediate “dry” decontamination—wiping down the victim with any absorbent material (eg, toilet paper, paper towels, wound dressings) can be highly effective on its own and can be done by affected individuals themselves under the instruction of first responders. The dry decontamination step removes up to 99% of contamination and minimizes the accumulation of hazardous material in the subsequent steps.

The new guidance also expands on the effects of the “triple protocol,” a combined decontamination strategy. The 3 steps of that protocol—dry decontamination, wet decontamination using water deluges from fire trucks, and technical decontamination—have been shown to remove 99.9% of chemical contamination. Moreover, the latest clinical evidence indicates that the 3-step approach is faster and more effective than traditional methods for treating chemically contaminated patients.

The guideline also addresses how communities can prepare for chemical emergencies and what to do after the event, such as providing washcloths, towels, blankets, and temporary clothing.

Federal experts and the researchers devised the Algorithm Suggesting Proportionate Incident Response Engagement (ASPIRE), a decision-support tool to help emergency management planners and responders decide which decontamination approach suits a given situation. Using the algorithm, they can tailor plans and responses based on the chemical and type of exposure, how quickly the chemical evaporates, and the amount of time passed since exposure.

ASPIRE and the guidance are integrated into the Chemical Hazards Emergency Medical Management (CHEMM), a web-based resource and suite of preparedness and emergency response tools. The developers also plan to incorporate them into a mobile app.

PRISM is available at www.medicalcountermeasures.gov.

The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad.

The move inside the military coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to privatize care for veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs in February proposed rules that would allow veterans to use private hospitals and clinics if government primary care facilities are not nearby or if they have to wait too long for an appointment.

Shrinking the medical corps within the armed forces is proving more contentious and complex. In 2017, a Republican-controlled Congress mandated changes in what a Senate Armed Services Committee report described as “an under-performing, disjointed health system” with “bloated medical headquarters staffs” and “inevitable turf wars.” The directive sought a greater emphasis for military doctors on combat-related needs while transferring other care to civilian providers.

Details of reductions have yet to be finalized, a military spokeswoman said. But within the system and among alumni, trepidation has increased since Military.com, an online military and veterans organization, reported in January that the Department of Defense had drafted proposals to convert more than 17,000 medical positions into fighting and support positions – a 13 percent reduction in medical personnel.

“That would be a drastic first cut,” said Dr. David Lane, a retired rear admiral and former director of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

At most risk in the current planning are positions that aren’t considered essential to troops overseas, such as training spots for new doctors and jobs that can be outsourced to private physicians and hospitals – obstetricians and primary care doctors, for example. The reductions may also limit the military’s medical humanitarian assistance and relief for foreign natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

Even in war zones, Lane warned, it would be a mistake to downplay the importance of contributions by doctors who do not specialize in trauma. In the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, for instance, cases of diseases and non-battle injuries rather than combat injuries created the most medical work, he said.

Doctors who train in the military’s highly regarded medical school – who have committed to serve in the armed forces after training – and those who do military residencies account for much of the staff serving troops overseas. A major deployment could leave the military flatfooted, said Dr. John Prescott, a former Army physician.

“The majority of folks in the military don’t stay in for their whole career, they stay in for a few years,” Prescott said. “I’m concerned there will be a very small cohort that will be available for deployment in the future.”

The military health system is responsible for more than 1.4 million active-duty and 331,000 reserve personnel, with 54 hospitals and 377 military clinics around the world. Split among the Navy, Army and Air Force, each with its own doctors and hospitals, the service has been targeted for years for overhaul to reduce redundancies and save costs.

The department has already started moving administrative functions under one bureaucracy, called the Defense Health Agency, which is slated to take over the service branch hospitals in 2021.

The budget for the next fiscal year is still being developed and final decisions have not yet been made, a Department of Defense spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, said in an email. “Any reforms that do result will be driven by the Department’s efforts to ensure our medical personnel are ready to provide battlefield care in support of our forces, and to provide the outstanding medical benefits that Service members, retirees and their families deserve,” she said.

For years, critics of the broad role of the military health services have argued that many medical corps services – such as maternity care and pediatrics on bases – could be provided more effectively by civilian doctors and hospitals.

But Lane said there is too much focus on the high-profile trauma cases on the battlefield “that at the end of the day are a small portion” of medical care. “When we’re trying to put things back together that got broken during a war,” he said, “that’s what you need the most of – pediatricians, public health doctors, primary care doctors.”

Some studies commissioned by the department have concluded private hospitals could deliver less costly care, in part because doctors at hospitals take care of more patients. But the Congressional Budget Office said savings were not at all certain and that military hospitals might be less expensive if the government arranged for greater use of them.

Brad Carson and Morgan Plummer, who held senior jobs in the Department of Defense during President Barack Obama’s administration, argued in a 2016 essay that the military isn’t the best training for surgeons because it doesn’t provide them with a sufficient number of cases to develop expertise.

The military health system “has too much infrastructure, the wrong mix of providers, and predominantly serves the needs of beneficiaries who could easily have their health care needs satisfied by civilian providers at far less cost and with equal or better quality,” they wrote.

The government this year is spending $50 billion on the military health system, including Tricare insurance for more than 9 million active-duty service members, veterans, families and survivors, according to Congress’ budget office. That is roughly a tenth of the military budget. The CBO projected costs are on track to increase to $63 billion in 2033.

Defenders of the system reject the idea that non-wartime jobs can be eliminated without it hurting that core mission.

“Military health care providers between deployments maintain their clinical skills by treating service members and millions of beneficiaries,” Dr. Arthur Kellermann, dean of the school of medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, wrote in a 2017 Health Affairs article. “Military hospitals provide valuable platforms for teaching the next generation of uniformed health care professionals and standby capacity for combat casualties.”

Prescott, the former Army doctor, said that the military may have trouble turning to civilian doctors in some regions given physician shortages, which he said the military cuts would exacerbate.

“Most hospitals are already pretty full, most health care providers are pretty busy,” said Prescott, now chief academic officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Doctor shortages would increase if the military cut the slots it now has to train doctors, because there wouldn’t be new civilian residencies created to compensate. “Those positions basically disappear,” he said.

Kathryn Beasley, a retired Navy captain who is director of government relations for health affairs at the Military Officers Association of America, said she was also concerned with unforeseen consequences of dramatic cuts.

“Everything’s tied together, there’s a lot of interdependencies in these things,” she said. “You pull a string on one and you might feel it in an area you don’t expect.”
 

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad.

The move inside the military coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to privatize care for veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs in February proposed rules that would allow veterans to use private hospitals and clinics if government primary care facilities are not nearby or if they have to wait too long for an appointment.

Shrinking the medical corps within the armed forces is proving more contentious and complex. In 2017, a Republican-controlled Congress mandated changes in what a Senate Armed Services Committee report described as “an under-performing, disjointed health system” with “bloated medical headquarters staffs” and “inevitable turf wars.” The directive sought a greater emphasis for military doctors on combat-related needs while transferring other care to civilian providers.

Details of reductions have yet to be finalized, a military spokeswoman said. But within the system and among alumni, trepidation has increased since Military.com, an online military and veterans organization, reported in January that the Department of Defense had drafted proposals to convert more than 17,000 medical positions into fighting and support positions – a 13 percent reduction in medical personnel.

“That would be a drastic first cut,” said Dr. David Lane, a retired rear admiral and former director of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

At most risk in the current planning are positions that aren’t considered essential to troops overseas, such as training spots for new doctors and jobs that can be outsourced to private physicians and hospitals – obstetricians and primary care doctors, for example. The reductions may also limit the military’s medical humanitarian assistance and relief for foreign natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

Even in war zones, Lane warned, it would be a mistake to downplay the importance of contributions by doctors who do not specialize in trauma. In the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, for instance, cases of diseases and non-battle injuries rather than combat injuries created the most medical work, he said.

Doctors who train in the military’s highly regarded medical school – who have committed to serve in the armed forces after training – and those who do military residencies account for much of the staff serving troops overseas. A major deployment could leave the military flatfooted, said Dr. John Prescott, a former Army physician.

“The majority of folks in the military don’t stay in for their whole career, they stay in for a few years,” Prescott said. “I’m concerned there will be a very small cohort that will be available for deployment in the future.”

The military health system is responsible for more than 1.4 million active-duty and 331,000 reserve personnel, with 54 hospitals and 377 military clinics around the world. Split among the Navy, Army and Air Force, each with its own doctors and hospitals, the service has been targeted for years for overhaul to reduce redundancies and save costs.

The department has already started moving administrative functions under one bureaucracy, called the Defense Health Agency, which is slated to take over the service branch hospitals in 2021.

The budget for the next fiscal year is still being developed and final decisions have not yet been made, a Department of Defense spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, said in an email. “Any reforms that do result will be driven by the Department’s efforts to ensure our medical personnel are ready to provide battlefield care in support of our forces, and to provide the outstanding medical benefits that Service members, retirees and their families deserve,” she said.

For years, critics of the broad role of the military health services have argued that many medical corps services – such as maternity care and pediatrics on bases – could be provided more effectively by civilian doctors and hospitals.

But Lane said there is too much focus on the high-profile trauma cases on the battlefield “that at the end of the day are a small portion” of medical care. “When we’re trying to put things back together that got broken during a war,” he said, “that’s what you need the most of – pediatricians, public health doctors, primary care doctors.”

Some studies commissioned by the department have concluded private hospitals could deliver less costly care, in part because doctors at hospitals take care of more patients. But the Congressional Budget Office said savings were not at all certain and that military hospitals might be less expensive if the government arranged for greater use of them.

Brad Carson and Morgan Plummer, who held senior jobs in the Department of Defense during President Barack Obama’s administration, argued in a 2016 essay that the military isn’t the best training for surgeons because it doesn’t provide them with a sufficient number of cases to develop expertise.

The military health system “has too much infrastructure, the wrong mix of providers, and predominantly serves the needs of beneficiaries who could easily have their health care needs satisfied by civilian providers at far less cost and with equal or better quality,” they wrote.

The government this year is spending $50 billion on the military health system, including Tricare insurance for more than 9 million active-duty service members, veterans, families and survivors, according to Congress’ budget office. That is roughly a tenth of the military budget. The CBO projected costs are on track to increase to $63 billion in 2033.

Defenders of the system reject the idea that non-wartime jobs can be eliminated without it hurting that core mission.

“Military health care providers between deployments maintain their clinical skills by treating service members and millions of beneficiaries,” Dr. Arthur Kellermann, dean of the school of medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, wrote in a 2017 Health Affairs article. “Military hospitals provide valuable platforms for teaching the next generation of uniformed health care professionals and standby capacity for combat casualties.”

Prescott, the former Army doctor, said that the military may have trouble turning to civilian doctors in some regions given physician shortages, which he said the military cuts would exacerbate.

“Most hospitals are already pretty full, most health care providers are pretty busy,” said Prescott, now chief academic officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Doctor shortages would increase if the military cut the slots it now has to train doctors, because there wouldn’t be new civilian residencies created to compensate. “Those positions basically disappear,” he said.

Kathryn Beasley, a retired Navy captain who is director of government relations for health affairs at the Military Officers Association of America, said she was also concerned with unforeseen consequences of dramatic cuts.

“Everything’s tied together, there’s a lot of interdependencies in these things,” she said. “You pull a string on one and you might feel it in an area you don’t expect.”
 

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

The U.S. military is devising major reductions in its medical corps, unnerving the system’s advocates who fear the cuts will hobble the armed forces’ ability to adequately care for health problems of military personnel at home and abroad.

The move inside the military coincides with efforts by the Trump administration to privatize care for veterans. The Department of Veterans Affairs in February proposed rules that would allow veterans to use private hospitals and clinics if government primary care facilities are not nearby or if they have to wait too long for an appointment.

Shrinking the medical corps within the armed forces is proving more contentious and complex. In 2017, a Republican-controlled Congress mandated changes in what a Senate Armed Services Committee report described as “an under-performing, disjointed health system” with “bloated medical headquarters staffs” and “inevitable turf wars.” The directive sought a greater emphasis for military doctors on combat-related needs while transferring other care to civilian providers.

Details of reductions have yet to be finalized, a military spokeswoman said. But within the system and among alumni, trepidation has increased since Military.com, an online military and veterans organization, reported in January that the Department of Defense had drafted proposals to convert more than 17,000 medical positions into fighting and support positions – a 13 percent reduction in medical personnel.

“That would be a drastic first cut,” said Dr. David Lane, a retired rear admiral and former director of the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Md.

At most risk in the current planning are positions that aren’t considered essential to troops overseas, such as training spots for new doctors and jobs that can be outsourced to private physicians and hospitals – obstetricians and primary care doctors, for example. The reductions may also limit the military’s medical humanitarian assistance and relief for foreign natural disasters and disease outbreaks.

Even in war zones, Lane warned, it would be a mistake to downplay the importance of contributions by doctors who do not specialize in trauma. In the 1991 invasion of Kuwait, for instance, cases of diseases and non-battle injuries rather than combat injuries created the most medical work, he said.

Doctors who train in the military’s highly regarded medical school – who have committed to serve in the armed forces after training – and those who do military residencies account for much of the staff serving troops overseas. A major deployment could leave the military flatfooted, said Dr. John Prescott, a former Army physician.

“The majority of folks in the military don’t stay in for their whole career, they stay in for a few years,” Prescott said. “I’m concerned there will be a very small cohort that will be available for deployment in the future.”

The military health system is responsible for more than 1.4 million active-duty and 331,000 reserve personnel, with 54 hospitals and 377 military clinics around the world. Split among the Navy, Army and Air Force, each with its own doctors and hospitals, the service has been targeted for years for overhaul to reduce redundancies and save costs.

The department has already started moving administrative functions under one bureaucracy, called the Defense Health Agency, which is slated to take over the service branch hospitals in 2021.

The budget for the next fiscal year is still being developed and final decisions have not yet been made, a Department of Defense spokeswoman, Lt. Col. Carla Gleason, said in an email. “Any reforms that do result will be driven by the Department’s efforts to ensure our medical personnel are ready to provide battlefield care in support of our forces, and to provide the outstanding medical benefits that Service members, retirees and their families deserve,” she said.

For years, critics of the broad role of the military health services have argued that many medical corps services – such as maternity care and pediatrics on bases – could be provided more effectively by civilian doctors and hospitals.

But Lane said there is too much focus on the high-profile trauma cases on the battlefield “that at the end of the day are a small portion” of medical care. “When we’re trying to put things back together that got broken during a war,” he said, “that’s what you need the most of – pediatricians, public health doctors, primary care doctors.”

Some studies commissioned by the department have concluded private hospitals could deliver less costly care, in part because doctors at hospitals take care of more patients. But the Congressional Budget Office said savings were not at all certain and that military hospitals might be less expensive if the government arranged for greater use of them.

Brad Carson and Morgan Plummer, who held senior jobs in the Department of Defense during President Barack Obama’s administration, argued in a 2016 essay that the military isn’t the best training for surgeons because it doesn’t provide them with a sufficient number of cases to develop expertise.

The military health system “has too much infrastructure, the wrong mix of providers, and predominantly serves the needs of beneficiaries who could easily have their health care needs satisfied by civilian providers at far less cost and with equal or better quality,” they wrote.

The government this year is spending $50 billion on the military health system, including Tricare insurance for more than 9 million active-duty service members, veterans, families and survivors, according to Congress’ budget office. That is roughly a tenth of the military budget. The CBO projected costs are on track to increase to $63 billion in 2033.

Defenders of the system reject the idea that non-wartime jobs can be eliminated without it hurting that core mission.

“Military health care providers between deployments maintain their clinical skills by treating service members and millions of beneficiaries,” Dr. Arthur Kellermann, dean of the school of medicine at the Uniformed Services University in Bethesda, wrote in a 2017 Health Affairs article. “Military hospitals provide valuable platforms for teaching the next generation of uniformed health care professionals and standby capacity for combat casualties.”

Prescott, the former Army doctor, said that the military may have trouble turning to civilian doctors in some regions given physician shortages, which he said the military cuts would exacerbate.

“Most hospitals are already pretty full, most health care providers are pretty busy,” said Prescott, now chief academic officer at the Association of American Medical Colleges.

Doctor shortages would increase if the military cut the slots it now has to train doctors, because there wouldn’t be new civilian residencies created to compensate. “Those positions basically disappear,” he said.

Kathryn Beasley, a retired Navy captain who is director of government relations for health affairs at the Military Officers Association of America, said she was also concerned with unforeseen consequences of dramatic cuts.

“Everything’s tied together, there’s a lot of interdependencies in these things,” she said. “You pull a string on one and you might feel it in an area you don’t expect.”
 

Kaiser Health News is a nonprofit national health policy news service. It is an editorially independent program of the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation that is not affiliated with Kaiser Permanente.

Hepatology News Tonight: Managing complications of cirrhosis
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., National Harbor 4-5
Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. Dinner Symposium 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Presenters:Robert S. Brown Jr., MD, MPH (Chair), Gladys and Roland Harriman professor of medicine, vice chair for mentorship and academic development, clinical chief of the division of gastroenterology & hepatology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York; Kimberly Brown, MD, FAST, FAASLD, AGAF, professor of medicine at Wayne State University and chief of gastroenterology and hepatology and associate medical director, Henry Ford Hospital Transplant Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, both in Detroit; Steven Flamm, MD, FAASLD, FACG, chief, liver transplantation program, and professor of medicine and surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago.
Target Audience: This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of physicians, advanced practice providers, and allied health professionals who provide care for hospitalized patients with liver disease.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to:

• Understand the complications and the consequences of cirrhosis.
• Describe the economic, patient, and caregiver burdens associated with cirrhosis.
• Demonstrate the ability to properly treat the complications of cirrhosis and prevent recurrence.

Accredited by: Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services
Provided by: Chronic Liver Disease Foundation. Supported by educational grants from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Salix Pharmaceuticals.
Accreditation Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) through the joint providership of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (RMCHCS), the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation, and the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterological Society. RMCHCS is accredited by the NMMS to provide continuing medical education for physicians. RMCHCS designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Americans with Disabilities Act: The event staff will be glad to assist you with any special needs (such as physical or dietary).
Registration: www.ChronicLiverDisease.org. On-site registration is available. Space is limited, so please arrive by 5:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

An evidence-based approach to reducing stroke risk in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Woodrow Wilson BC
Presenter:
Dharmesh Patel, MD, MBBS (London), FACC, FACP, FASPC, FNLA, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation; president of Alliance for Patient Access; past president American Heart Association; past chairman of medicine, Baptist Desoto Hospital, Southaven, Miss.; board member, AHA Southeast America, Memphis, Tenn.
Learning Objectives: This lecture will present options for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.
Sponsored by: Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Understanding your legal tools: The keys to lawsuit prevention, license protection and tax reduction
​​​​​​Monday, March 25
Noon - 1:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Lunch provided at noon.
Objectives:

• Learn how to protect your license from negative reports to the NPDB following a settlement from your insurance company. If there is no NPD report, it’s unlikely that a board investigation into legal matters will materialize, preventing any sanctions from the state licensing board.
• Learn the best business structure for income tax reduction. Learn about the new tax laws passed in 2018 and how they can benefit you.
• Learn the use of legal tools that will protect your professional and personal assets from lawsuits. (Statistically, not even one in 100,000 are using these tools in the right way.)
• Learn how to protect business, property and personal assets in the event of a judgment in excess of liability insurance.
• Shows how to structure: C-corps, S-corps, FLPs, LLCs, etc. 

Faculty: Art McOmber
Sponsored by: Legally Mine.

Evidence-based approach to COPD management: Exploring new guidelines and treatment options for managing COPD exacerbations
Monday, March 257:00 - 9:30 p.m.,
Cherry Blossom Ballroom
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to do the following:

• Discuss considerations for reducing the risk of exacerbations in the inpatient and ambulatory setting.
• Raise awareness of strategies to improve COPD standardization of care across sites of care.
• Evaluate the role of long-acting bronchodilators to treat underlying pathophysiology of exacerbations.
• Understand the importance of inhaler selection when initiating maintenance therapy or reassessing treatment based on disease progression.

Faculty: Haley M. Hoy, PhD, ACNP, FAANP, The University of Alabama Huntsville, Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Sponsored by: Boehringer Ingelheim.

C. difficile infection: A hospitalist’s roadmap to treatment and prevention of recurrence 
Monday, March 25
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Program Overview: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) places a significant clinical and economic burden on the health care system. The rising incidence of CDI is attributed to the emergence of a previously rare and hypervirulent strain of C. difficile. Increased toxin production and high-level antimicrobial resistance have allowed this strain to thrive in health care settings. Furthermore, populations previously thought to be at low risk of infection are now being identified as having severe CDI, including those without any exposure to health care facilities.

Fortunately, new diagnostic techniques have been developed to assist clinicians in the accurate and rapid detection of these infections. Additionally, new treatment options are available to clinicians for the management of initial and recurrent episodes of CDI. The prevention and management of CDI involve multiple disciplines responsible for the care of at-risk patients. As a key patient advocate in the hospital, the hospitalist can play a major role in ensuring that appropriate measures are in place for their patients at high risk for CDI. Hospitalists also can ensure that timely and appropriate diagnostic tests are performed at the early signs of CDI and that appropriate treatment selection is based on patient factors.
Faculty: William Ford, MD, SFHM, regional director hospital medicine and clinical associate professor of medicine, Abington (Penn.) Jefferson Health; Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, clinical professor and clinical specialist, infectious diseases, and director, PGY2 Residency in Infectious Diseases Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia; Ciaran P. Kelly, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and director, gastroenterology fellowship training and director, Celiac Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston.
Registration: www.vemcomeded.com/livemeetings.asp or call 908-704-2400.
Accreditation statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit designation: Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co. Jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Hepatology News Tonight: Managing complications of cirrhosis
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., National Harbor 4-5
Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. Dinner Symposium 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Presenters:Robert S. Brown Jr., MD, MPH (Chair), Gladys and Roland Harriman professor of medicine, vice chair for mentorship and academic development, clinical chief of the division of gastroenterology & hepatology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York; Kimberly Brown, MD, FAST, FAASLD, AGAF, professor of medicine at Wayne State University and chief of gastroenterology and hepatology and associate medical director, Henry Ford Hospital Transplant Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, both in Detroit; Steven Flamm, MD, FAASLD, FACG, chief, liver transplantation program, and professor of medicine and surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago.
Target Audience: This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of physicians, advanced practice providers, and allied health professionals who provide care for hospitalized patients with liver disease.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to:

• Understand the complications and the consequences of cirrhosis.
• Describe the economic, patient, and caregiver burdens associated with cirrhosis.
• Demonstrate the ability to properly treat the complications of cirrhosis and prevent recurrence.

Accredited by: Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services
Provided by: Chronic Liver Disease Foundation. Supported by educational grants from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Salix Pharmaceuticals.
Accreditation Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) through the joint providership of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (RMCHCS), the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation, and the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterological Society. RMCHCS is accredited by the NMMS to provide continuing medical education for physicians. RMCHCS designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Americans with Disabilities Act: The event staff will be glad to assist you with any special needs (such as physical or dietary).
Registration: www.ChronicLiverDisease.org. On-site registration is available. Space is limited, so please arrive by 5:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

An evidence-based approach to reducing stroke risk in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Woodrow Wilson BC
Presenter:
Dharmesh Patel, MD, MBBS (London), FACC, FACP, FASPC, FNLA, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation; president of Alliance for Patient Access; past president American Heart Association; past chairman of medicine, Baptist Desoto Hospital, Southaven, Miss.; board member, AHA Southeast America, Memphis, Tenn.
Learning Objectives: This lecture will present options for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.
Sponsored by: Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Understanding your legal tools: The keys to lawsuit prevention, license protection and tax reduction
​​​​​​Monday, March 25
Noon - 1:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Lunch provided at noon.
Objectives:

• Learn how to protect your license from negative reports to the NPDB following a settlement from your insurance company. If there is no NPD report, it’s unlikely that a board investigation into legal matters will materialize, preventing any sanctions from the state licensing board.
• Learn the best business structure for income tax reduction. Learn about the new tax laws passed in 2018 and how they can benefit you.
• Learn the use of legal tools that will protect your professional and personal assets from lawsuits. (Statistically, not even one in 100,000 are using these tools in the right way.)
• Learn how to protect business, property and personal assets in the event of a judgment in excess of liability insurance.
• Shows how to structure: C-corps, S-corps, FLPs, LLCs, etc. 

Faculty: Art McOmber
Sponsored by: Legally Mine.

Evidence-based approach to COPD management: Exploring new guidelines and treatment options for managing COPD exacerbations
Monday, March 257:00 - 9:30 p.m.,
Cherry Blossom Ballroom
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to do the following:

• Discuss considerations for reducing the risk of exacerbations in the inpatient and ambulatory setting.
• Raise awareness of strategies to improve COPD standardization of care across sites of care.
• Evaluate the role of long-acting bronchodilators to treat underlying pathophysiology of exacerbations.
• Understand the importance of inhaler selection when initiating maintenance therapy or reassessing treatment based on disease progression.

Faculty: Haley M. Hoy, PhD, ACNP, FAANP, The University of Alabama Huntsville, Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Sponsored by: Boehringer Ingelheim.

C. difficile infection: A hospitalist’s roadmap to treatment and prevention of recurrence 
Monday, March 25
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Program Overview: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) places a significant clinical and economic burden on the health care system. The rising incidence of CDI is attributed to the emergence of a previously rare and hypervirulent strain of C. difficile. Increased toxin production and high-level antimicrobial resistance have allowed this strain to thrive in health care settings. Furthermore, populations previously thought to be at low risk of infection are now being identified as having severe CDI, including those without any exposure to health care facilities.

Fortunately, new diagnostic techniques have been developed to assist clinicians in the accurate and rapid detection of these infections. Additionally, new treatment options are available to clinicians for the management of initial and recurrent episodes of CDI. The prevention and management of CDI involve multiple disciplines responsible for the care of at-risk patients. As a key patient advocate in the hospital, the hospitalist can play a major role in ensuring that appropriate measures are in place for their patients at high risk for CDI. Hospitalists also can ensure that timely and appropriate diagnostic tests are performed at the early signs of CDI and that appropriate treatment selection is based on patient factors.
Faculty: William Ford, MD, SFHM, regional director hospital medicine and clinical associate professor of medicine, Abington (Penn.) Jefferson Health; Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, clinical professor and clinical specialist, infectious diseases, and director, PGY2 Residency in Infectious Diseases Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia; Ciaran P. Kelly, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and director, gastroenterology fellowship training and director, Celiac Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston.
Registration: www.vemcomeded.com/livemeetings.asp or call 908-704-2400.
Accreditation statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit designation: Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co. Jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Hepatology News Tonight: Managing complications of cirrhosis
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., National Harbor 4-5
Registration starts at 5:30 p.m. Dinner Symposium 6:00 - 7:30 p.m.
Presenters:Robert S. Brown Jr., MD, MPH (Chair), Gladys and Roland Harriman professor of medicine, vice chair for mentorship and academic development, clinical chief of the division of gastroenterology & hepatology, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York; Kimberly Brown, MD, FAST, FAASLD, AGAF, professor of medicine at Wayne State University and chief of gastroenterology and hepatology and associate medical director, Henry Ford Hospital Transplant Institute, Henry Ford Hospital, both in Detroit; Steven Flamm, MD, FAASLD, FACG, chief, liver transplantation program, and professor of medicine and surgery, Northwestern University, Chicago.
Target Audience: This activity has been designed to meet the educational needs of physicians, advanced practice providers, and allied health professionals who provide care for hospitalized patients with liver disease.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to:

• Understand the complications and the consequences of cirrhosis.
• Describe the economic, patient, and caregiver burdens associated with cirrhosis.
• Demonstrate the ability to properly treat the complications of cirrhosis and prevent recurrence.

Accredited by: Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services
Provided by: Chronic Liver Disease Foundation. Supported by educational grants from Mallinckrodt Pharmaceuticals and Salix Pharmaceuticals.
Accreditation Statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the New Mexico Medical Society (NMMS) through the joint providership of Rehoboth McKinley Christian Health Care Services (RMCHCS), the Chronic Liver Disease Foundation, and the Texas Gulf Coast Gastroenterological Society. RMCHCS is accredited by the NMMS to provide continuing medical education for physicians. RMCHCS designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Americans with Disabilities Act: The event staff will be glad to assist you with any special needs (such as physical or dietary).
Registration: www.ChronicLiverDisease.org. On-site registration is available. Space is limited, so please arrive by 5:00 p.m. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis.

An evidence-based approach to reducing stroke risk in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation
Sunday, March 24
5:30 - 7:30 p.m., Woodrow Wilson BC
Presenter:
Dharmesh Patel, MD, MBBS (London), FACC, FACP, FASPC, FNLA, Stern Cardiovascular Foundation; president of Alliance for Patient Access; past president American Heart Association; past chairman of medicine, Baptist Desoto Hospital, Southaven, Miss.; board member, AHA Southeast America, Memphis, Tenn.
Learning Objectives: This lecture will present options for reducing the risk of stroke in patients with nonvalvular atrial fibrillation.
Sponsored by: Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

Understanding your legal tools: The keys to lawsuit prevention, license protection and tax reduction
​​​​​​Monday, March 25
Noon - 1:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Lunch provided at noon.
Objectives:

• Learn how to protect your license from negative reports to the NPDB following a settlement from your insurance company. If there is no NPD report, it’s unlikely that a board investigation into legal matters will materialize, preventing any sanctions from the state licensing board.
• Learn the best business structure for income tax reduction. Learn about the new tax laws passed in 2018 and how they can benefit you.
• Learn the use of legal tools that will protect your professional and personal assets from lawsuits. (Statistically, not even one in 100,000 are using these tools in the right way.)
• Learn how to protect business, property and personal assets in the event of a judgment in excess of liability insurance.
• Shows how to structure: C-corps, S-corps, FLPs, LLCs, etc. 

Faculty: Art McOmber
Sponsored by: Legally Mine.

Evidence-based approach to COPD management: Exploring new guidelines and treatment options for managing COPD exacerbations
Monday, March 257:00 - 9:30 p.m.,
Cherry Blossom Ballroom
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Learning Objectives: After completing this program, participants should be better able to do the following:

• Discuss considerations for reducing the risk of exacerbations in the inpatient and ambulatory setting.
• Raise awareness of strategies to improve COPD standardization of care across sites of care.
• Evaluate the role of long-acting bronchodilators to treat underlying pathophysiology of exacerbations.
• Understand the importance of inhaler selection when initiating maintenance therapy or reassessing treatment based on disease progression.

Faculty: Haley M. Hoy, PhD, ACNP, FAANP, The University of Alabama Huntsville, Vanderbilt Medical Center.
Sponsored by: Boehringer Ingelheim.

C. difficile infection: A hospitalist’s roadmap to treatment and prevention of recurrence 
Monday, March 25
7:00 - 9:00 p.m., National Harbor 2-3
Dinner provided at 7:00 p.m.
Program Overview: Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) places a significant clinical and economic burden on the health care system. The rising incidence of CDI is attributed to the emergence of a previously rare and hypervirulent strain of C. difficile. Increased toxin production and high-level antimicrobial resistance have allowed this strain to thrive in health care settings. Furthermore, populations previously thought to be at low risk of infection are now being identified as having severe CDI, including those without any exposure to health care facilities.

Fortunately, new diagnostic techniques have been developed to assist clinicians in the accurate and rapid detection of these infections. Additionally, new treatment options are available to clinicians for the management of initial and recurrent episodes of CDI. The prevention and management of CDI involve multiple disciplines responsible for the care of at-risk patients. As a key patient advocate in the hospital, the hospitalist can play a major role in ensuring that appropriate measures are in place for their patients at high risk for CDI. Hospitalists also can ensure that timely and appropriate diagnostic tests are performed at the early signs of CDI and that appropriate treatment selection is based on patient factors.
Faculty: William Ford, MD, SFHM, regional director hospital medicine and clinical associate professor of medicine, Abington (Penn.) Jefferson Health; Jason C. Gallagher, PharmD, FCCP, FIDP, FIDSA, BCPS, clinical professor and clinical specialist, infectious diseases, and director, PGY2 Residency in Infectious Diseases Pharmacy, Temple University, Philadelphia; Ciaran P. Kelly, MD, professor of medicine, Harvard Medical School, and director, gastroenterology fellowship training and director, Celiac Center, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, both in Boston.
Registration: www.vemcomeded.com/livemeetings.asp or call 908-704-2400.
Accreditation statement: This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the accreditation requirements and policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education through the joint providership of the Center for Independent Healthcare Education (Center) and Vemco MedEd. Center is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Credit designation: Center designates this live activity for a maximum of 1.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit(s)™. Physicians should claim only the credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Supported by an educational grant from Merck & Co. Jointly provided by Center for Independent Healthcare Education and Vemco MedEd.

Due to the steadily growing interest of Annual Conference attendees in health care policy and advocacy issues, HM19 will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

Held on Monday, the health 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.”

At HM19, the policy 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 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 that 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 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,” 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 MIPS. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measurement. This is an 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 also as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program
Monday, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Annapolis

Due to the steadily growing interest of Annual Conference attendees in health care policy and advocacy issues, HM19 will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

Held on Monday, the health 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.”

At HM19, the policy 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 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 that 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 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,” 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 MIPS. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measurement. This is an 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 also as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program
Monday, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Annapolis

Due to the steadily growing interest of Annual Conference attendees in health care policy and advocacy issues, HM19 will include a mini-track dedicated to policy issues.

Held on Monday, the health 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.”

At HM19, the policy 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 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 that 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 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,” 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 MIPS. I think our members should gain a concrete understanding of the new directions that CMS is heading this year. Overall, they’ll have a better sense of the vision behind quality measurement. This is an 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 also as an opportunity to educate CMS about our issues.”

CMS Policy Update: An Overview of Meaningful Measures and the Quality Payment Program
Monday, 2:00 – 3:30 p.m.
Annapolis

There’s a senior faculty member you respect, and you want to pick their brain about a career decision you face. How do you go about this? Send an email, cold? What if you don’t hear back? Were they too busy or disinclined, or did it just get overlooked in the heap?

Do you try and catch up with them in the hallway at the annual conference and introduce yourself? What if it’s rushed or awkward?

How about someone plans a lunch for you to attend, and you sit down with this person with a block of time to chat? Now that sounds like a much better option.

This is the idea behind the Resident and Student Luncheon at HM19. At Monday’s luncheon, residents and students can have a conversation, facilitated by Society of Hospital Medicine committee members, with experienced faculty members in quality improvement, pediatrics, informatics, advocacy, and other areas.

Brian Kwan, MD, FHM, chair of the Physicians-in-Training SHM committee, said the event is meant to clear a path to interactions.

“Say you’re attending the tracks – you’ll meet people maybe next to you, but it’s sometimes hard to start those conversations,” he said. “So I think that what the luncheon allows them to do is provide a place [to meet]. And it’s a little bit more formal, because we have a structure to it. We have a program that we follow in order to kind of provide structure. That way it allows people to really get in and make the connection.”

The luncheon is open at no extra charge to resident and student SHM members. It is capped at a total of 100 attendees, including the 10 invited faculty experts – 1 per table – and Physicians-in-Training committee members, who will be there to help make introductions and move the discussion along. Residents and students first will sit at a table and hear faculty introductions – which might give them exposure to an area about which they are unfamiliar – and then have an opportunity to interact with faculty at their table. After that they will move to a table of their choosing for the second half of the event.

The luncheon often involves big names attendees see on stage. The details are still being ironed out for this year, but past luncheon guests have included keynote speakers and Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, chair of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is considered the “father of hospital medicine.”

Dr. Kwan said the event can have big implications for a young hospitalist’s career. A current committee member, he said, met their current employer at the luncheon.

The event also is envisioned as a way for students and residents to meet and discuss their career options, Dr. Kwan said.

“It’s an opportunity to both have residents and students connect, but also for them to potentially connect to other aspects of hospital medicine that they might be interested in,” he said.

The luncheon is only one way that HM19 planners have made a point to meet the needs of those who have just embarked on their careers.

The Early-Career Hospitalist track, which runs from 10:35 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. on Monday, includes sessions on common scenarios encountered at night (“Call Night: Common Scenarios Encountered and Strategies to Make it Through the Night,” 10:35 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Annapolis) an introduction to hospitalist billing (“Hospitalist Billing 101,” 11:25 a.m. – 12:05 p.m., Annapolis), and important bedrock literature (“A Whirlwind Tour of Famous Landmark [Articles]: Must-Know Literature to Impress Your Peers and Attendings,” 1:10 p.m. – 1:50 p.m., Annapolis).

An interview workshop is also planned (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Magnolia 3) and a Trivia Night for residents and students is also being considered, Dr. Kwan said.

Kevin Vuernick, membership engagement manager for SHM, said that these events are a response to feedback gleaned from those early in their career, including focus groups with students and residents.

“One of the things we heard was that they would love opportunities to network with other physicians or with members who have been at the Society for a while and are established in their careers, and how they can break into specifically hospital medicine,” he said. The luncheon is “just an hour but at least it gives them a healthy dose of being able to interact with people one on one or in a smaller setting.”

Resident and Student Luncheon
Monday, 12:00 p.m. –1:00 p.m.
National Harbor 4-5

There’s a senior faculty member you respect, and you want to pick their brain about a career decision you face. How do you go about this? Send an email, cold? What if you don’t hear back? Were they too busy or disinclined, or did it just get overlooked in the heap?

Do you try and catch up with them in the hallway at the annual conference and introduce yourself? What if it’s rushed or awkward?

How about someone plans a lunch for you to attend, and you sit down with this person with a block of time to chat? Now that sounds like a much better option.

This is the idea behind the Resident and Student Luncheon at HM19. At Monday’s luncheon, residents and students can have a conversation, facilitated by Society of Hospital Medicine committee members, with experienced faculty members in quality improvement, pediatrics, informatics, advocacy, and other areas.

Brian Kwan, MD, FHM, chair of the Physicians-in-Training SHM committee, said the event is meant to clear a path to interactions.

“Say you’re attending the tracks – you’ll meet people maybe next to you, but it’s sometimes hard to start those conversations,” he said. “So I think that what the luncheon allows them to do is provide a place [to meet]. And it’s a little bit more formal, because we have a structure to it. We have a program that we follow in order to kind of provide structure. That way it allows people to really get in and make the connection.”

The luncheon is open at no extra charge to resident and student SHM members. It is capped at a total of 100 attendees, including the 10 invited faculty experts – 1 per table – and Physicians-in-Training committee members, who will be there to help make introductions and move the discussion along. Residents and students first will sit at a table and hear faculty introductions – which might give them exposure to an area about which they are unfamiliar – and then have an opportunity to interact with faculty at their table. After that they will move to a table of their choosing for the second half of the event.

The luncheon often involves big names attendees see on stage. The details are still being ironed out for this year, but past luncheon guests have included keynote speakers and Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, chair of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is considered the “father of hospital medicine.”

Dr. Kwan said the event can have big implications for a young hospitalist’s career. A current committee member, he said, met their current employer at the luncheon.

The event also is envisioned as a way for students and residents to meet and discuss their career options, Dr. Kwan said.

“It’s an opportunity to both have residents and students connect, but also for them to potentially connect to other aspects of hospital medicine that they might be interested in,” he said.

The luncheon is only one way that HM19 planners have made a point to meet the needs of those who have just embarked on their careers.

The Early-Career Hospitalist track, which runs from 10:35 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. on Monday, includes sessions on common scenarios encountered at night (“Call Night: Common Scenarios Encountered and Strategies to Make it Through the Night,” 10:35 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Annapolis) an introduction to hospitalist billing (“Hospitalist Billing 101,” 11:25 a.m. – 12:05 p.m., Annapolis), and important bedrock literature (“A Whirlwind Tour of Famous Landmark [Articles]: Must-Know Literature to Impress Your Peers and Attendings,” 1:10 p.m. – 1:50 p.m., Annapolis).

An interview workshop is also planned (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Magnolia 3) and a Trivia Night for residents and students is also being considered, Dr. Kwan said.

Kevin Vuernick, membership engagement manager for SHM, said that these events are a response to feedback gleaned from those early in their career, including focus groups with students and residents.

“One of the things we heard was that they would love opportunities to network with other physicians or with members who have been at the Society for a while and are established in their careers, and how they can break into specifically hospital medicine,” he said. The luncheon is “just an hour but at least it gives them a healthy dose of being able to interact with people one on one or in a smaller setting.”

Resident and Student Luncheon
Monday, 12:00 p.m. –1:00 p.m.
National Harbor 4-5

There’s a senior faculty member you respect, and you want to pick their brain about a career decision you face. How do you go about this? Send an email, cold? What if you don’t hear back? Were they too busy or disinclined, or did it just get overlooked in the heap?

Do you try and catch up with them in the hallway at the annual conference and introduce yourself? What if it’s rushed or awkward?

How about someone plans a lunch for you to attend, and you sit down with this person with a block of time to chat? Now that sounds like a much better option.

This is the idea behind the Resident and Student Luncheon at HM19. At Monday’s luncheon, residents and students can have a conversation, facilitated by Society of Hospital Medicine committee members, with experienced faculty members in quality improvement, pediatrics, informatics, advocacy, and other areas.

Brian Kwan, MD, FHM, chair of the Physicians-in-Training SHM committee, said the event is meant to clear a path to interactions.

“Say you’re attending the tracks – you’ll meet people maybe next to you, but it’s sometimes hard to start those conversations,” he said. “So I think that what the luncheon allows them to do is provide a place [to meet]. And it’s a little bit more formal, because we have a structure to it. We have a program that we follow in order to kind of provide structure. That way it allows people to really get in and make the connection.”

The luncheon is open at no extra charge to resident and student SHM members. It is capped at a total of 100 attendees, including the 10 invited faculty experts – 1 per table – and Physicians-in-Training committee members, who will be there to help make introductions and move the discussion along. Residents and students first will sit at a table and hear faculty introductions – which might give them exposure to an area about which they are unfamiliar – and then have an opportunity to interact with faculty at their table. After that they will move to a table of their choosing for the second half of the event.

The luncheon often involves big names attendees see on stage. The details are still being ironed out for this year, but past luncheon guests have included keynote speakers and Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, chair of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, who is considered the “father of hospital medicine.”

Dr. Kwan said the event can have big implications for a young hospitalist’s career. A current committee member, he said, met their current employer at the luncheon.

The event also is envisioned as a way for students and residents to meet and discuss their career options, Dr. Kwan said.

“It’s an opportunity to both have residents and students connect, but also for them to potentially connect to other aspects of hospital medicine that they might be interested in,” he said.

The luncheon is only one way that HM19 planners have made a point to meet the needs of those who have just embarked on their careers.

The Early-Career Hospitalist track, which runs from 10:35 a.m. to 1:50 p.m. on Monday, includes sessions on common scenarios encountered at night (“Call Night: Common Scenarios Encountered and Strategies to Make it Through the Night,” 10:35 a.m. – 11:15 a.m., Annapolis) an introduction to hospitalist billing (“Hospitalist Billing 101,” 11:25 a.m. – 12:05 p.m., Annapolis), and important bedrock literature (“A Whirlwind Tour of Famous Landmark [Articles]: Must-Know Literature to Impress Your Peers and Attendings,” 1:10 p.m. – 1:50 p.m., Annapolis).

An interview workshop is also planned (Tuesday, 6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Magnolia 3) and a Trivia Night for residents and students is also being considered, Dr. Kwan said.

Kevin Vuernick, membership engagement manager for SHM, said that these events are a response to feedback gleaned from those early in their career, including focus groups with students and residents.

“One of the things we heard was that they would love opportunities to network with other physicians or with members who have been at the Society for a while and are established in their careers, and how they can break into specifically hospital medicine,” he said. The luncheon is “just an hour but at least it gives them a healthy dose of being able to interact with people one on one or in a smaller setting.”

Resident and Student Luncheon
Monday, 12:00 p.m. –1:00 p.m.
National Harbor 4-5

These small-group sessions take place Monday, 4:30 p.m. to 5:25 p.m. and Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. to 6:25 p.m.

Monday, March 25 – 4:30 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.

Academic and Research
​​​​​​Shaker Eid, MD, MBA, SFHM; Emily Mallin, MD, FHM
Azalea 3
The Academic and Research forum brings together faculty and researchers to discuss topics of interest to the academic hospital medicine community, such as mentorship, research support, and professional development. Join this collaborative offering of the Academic and Research Committees.

Canadian Hospitalists
Serge Soolsma, MD
Chesapeake K
This forum provides a unique setting for Canadian-based hospitalists to gather as an organized group, network, and discuss common issues.
 

Critical Care
David Aymond, MD
Chesapeake 1
This forum will explore the role of the hospitalist functioning as an intensivist and/or resuscitationist. Discussion items include personal experience, available education, and SHM’s support for this endeavor.

Hospitalists Trained in Family Medicine
Patricia Seymour, MD, FHM
Magnolia 2
Participants will network and discuss training, achieving recognition, access in the job market, and national trends related to hospitalists trained in family medicine.
 

Hospital Medicine Administrators
Larissa Smith; Elda Dede
Camellia 2
Practice administrators are important members of the hospitalist team. In this forum, administrators can voice their unique perspectives and hear from their peers.
 

International Hospital Medicine
Guillherme Barcellos, MD, SFHM
Magnolia 1
This forum is designed to provide an opportunity for attendees who practice hospital medicine outside of North America to share issues and ideas.
 

Leadership in Hospital Medicine
Thomas McIlraith, MD, SFHM, CLHM; Rob Zipper, MD, MMM, SFHM
Chesapeake 7-8
Want to be a better leader? A better coach and mentor? Do you want to drive quality improvement at your hospital? We will review, discuss, and shape the resources and programmatic offerings that are needed to promote leadership skill development at all levels. We will also review SHM’s existing programs, including Leadership Academies, the Leadership Certificate Program, e-learning, and the HMX: Leadership Alumni Forum.

Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants
Leah Schmitz, PA-C; Meredith Wold, PA-C
Chesapeake 5-6
Network with your peers and learn about the work of the SHM Committee on Hospitalist Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants.

Oncology Hospitalists
Barbara Egan, MD, SFHM Joshua
Chesapeake 3
This special interest forum will explore the role of hospitalists on oncology services. Discussion items may include personal experiences and how to succeed as an oncology hospitalist.
 

Pediatric Hospitalists
Weijen Chang, MD
Azalea 2
This forum will provide an opportunity for pediatric hospitalists to network, share, and discuss topics of particular interest to them. Topics will include an update on SHM’s pediatric activities and updates on potential paths to specialty certification.
 

Post-Acute Care Providers
Bob Reynolds, MD
Chesapeake 2
This forum provides opportunities for hospitalists who practice in or are interested in learning more about working in or becoming more involved in the post-acute care arena such as SNFs, LTACs, and rehab facilities.
 

Residents & Medical Students
Aram Namavar, MS; Pam Vila
Chesapeake 9
This forum provides an opportunity for SHM Resident and Student Interest Group members to shape the mission and academic-year agenda in line with the goals set forth by the PIT Committee.
 

Rural Hospitalists
Ken Simone, DO, SFHM; Michael Sullivan, MD
Chesapeake J
Hospital medicine groups in rural areas face some unique problems, from recruitment, night call, and staffing to communicating with geographically dispersed primary care physicians. This forum provides an opportunity for hospitalists in rural areas to share their issues and concerns and to see how others have solved similar problems.


Veterans Affairs Hospitalists
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA, FHM;
Peter Kaboli, MD, FHM
Magnolia 3
This forum provides opportunities in networking and discussion for hospitalists who work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Tuesday, March 26 – 5:30 p.m. – 6:25 p.m.

Advocacy & Public Policy
Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPH, SFHM; Josh Boswell, JD
Chesapeake 8
During this forum with SHM’s advocacy leaders and staff, you will learn about the direction of SHM’s Advocacy & Public Policy work and how you can help. Discussion will focus on SHM’s new Advocacy & Public Policy section and how you can participate and share your own ideas.

Care of Vulnerable Populations
Mara Bann, MD; Kristin Knox, MD
Camellia 2
SHM’s Caring for Vulnerable Populations section aims to increase awareness and improve quality of care for vulnerable and underserved patient populations. The principles and skills needed to care effectively for vulnerable patients span practitioners across all health systems, though particularly apply to hospitalists practicing in safety net and resource-limited settings.
 

Diversity and Inclusion
Marisha Burden, MD, SFHM; Areeba Kara, MD, MS
Chesapeake F
SHM is committed to a diverse and inclusive membership. This forum invites hospitalists from any underrepresented group to discuss issues, concerns, and solutions to improve their career opportunities and workforce diversity. This forum would be for HM leaders who would like to discuss strategies for expanding the diversity and inclusion of their HM groups.
 

Ethics in Hospital Medicine
David Alfandre, MD, MSPH
Chesapeake L
This forum serves as a resource for discussion, coaching, and mentorship on common and challenging ethical concerns that hospitalists face. We aim to support SHM members in collaborating on ethics scholarship and projects.
 

Global Health and Human Rights
Jonathan Kirsch, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 9
SHM’s Global Health and Human Rights section has been established to build interest and engagement in global health and human rights work among hospitalists. The section also plans to build long-term collaborations in the United States and abroad.

Health Information Technology​​​​​​​
Cheng-Kai Kao, MD, FHM; Andrew Young, DO, FHM;
Rupesh Prasad, MD, MPH, SFHM
National Harbor 9
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to offer SHM and the IT Committee input on what would be most beneficial to them regarding implementing, managing, and participating in health/hospital IT initiatives.

Hospital Medicine Disaster Preparedness and Management
Maria (Gaby) Frank, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 6
This forum, new for 2019, will explore the role and address the challenges of hospital medicine in disaster preparedness and management at both a local and national level. We look forward to building a coalition of individuals to help us tackle and provide guidance on this area.
 

Med-Peds Hospitalists​​​​​​​
Keely Dwyer-Matzky, MD, FHM; Susan Hunt, MD
Chesapeake DE
This forum will explore the role of Med-Peds physicians in hospitalist medicine. Discussion items may include personal experiences, how to create more Med-Peds jobs, and how to succeed as a Med-Peds hospitalist.

Multi-Site HMG Leaders
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM; Ryan Brown, MD, FHM
National Harbor 8
This forum is for physician and administrative leaders who are responsible for managing multiple hospitalist practice sites within the same health system. The number of people with this role has increased significantly in the last few years and comes with challenges that are different from those faced by the lead hospitalist at a single site.
 

Night Medicine​​​​​​​
Kathleen Atlas, MD
Chesapeake H
Connect with night medicine care providers to share experiences and address obstacles unique to working overnight, including best practices, teaching, career development, and wellness.

Palliative Care​​​​​​​
Jeffrey Frank, MD, MBA;
Rab Razzak, MD, MBBS
Chesapeake 1
This special interest forum invites all hospitalists interested in expanding palliative care (PC) at their hospitals as well as improving your own PC skills. This topic includes coordinating PC with your available resources to ensure our patients have access to PC. Share your experiences, barriers, training, and ongoing PC education in your current role as a hospitalist or as a PC provider.

Patient Experience​​​​​​​
Patrick Kneeland, MD
Chesapeake 5
Join the Patient Experience forum to exchange ideas about how hospitalists can enhance patients’ care experiences, while also improving professional satisfaction. Learn about the work of SHM’s Patient Experience Committee and opportunities for getting involved in SHM’s patient experience initiatives.

Perioperative Care
Steven Cohn, MD; Kurt Pfeifer, MD, SFHM
Azalea 3
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to interact with colleagues involved in various roles in perioperative medicine. The group will develop an active listserv for discussion of interesting or difficult patient management cases, administrative issues related to preoperative clinics and comanagement services, and networking.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
Benji Mathews, MD, CLHM, SFHM; Gordon Johnson, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 4
This forum will discuss opportunities to collaborate and standardize processes for POCUS. The forum will provide further information and answer questions about SHM’s National Certificate of Completion Program in POCUS. In addition, discussion will revolve around privileging at your own institution, gaining skills, and the challenges and successes of using POCUS.
 

Practice Management​​​​​​​
Dea Robinson, MA, FACMPE, CPC;
Dale Wiersma, MD, FHM
Camellia 1
This forum will focus on issues related to the business aspects of hospital medicine and the management of hospital medicine groups. Come hear about successes and challenges related to staffing, scheduling, communication, engagement, and compensation.
 

Quality Improvement​​​​​​​
Mangla Gulati, MD, SFHM;
Matthew Cerasale, MD, MPH, SFHM;
Tulay Aksoy, MD, FACP, FHM
Chesapeake 2-3
This forum provides a venue for connecting with SHM’s QI and patient safety community and engaging with leaders, peers, and collaborators to share ideas and inform SHM’s QI efforts. Discussion during the forum will focus on what hospitalists need to know to become involved with QI at SHM or locally. Hear about SHM’s plans for future QI initiatives.
 

Women in Hospital Medicine
Emily Gottenborg, MD
Chesapeake 7
This forum provides an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to women in hospital medicine and strategies for success/coping. Discussion items may include career satisfaction, occupational stresses, and promoting leadership.
 

These small-group sessions take place Monday, 4:30 p.m. to 5:25 p.m. and Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. to 6:25 p.m.

Monday, March 25 – 4:30 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.

Academic and Research
​​​​​​Shaker Eid, MD, MBA, SFHM; Emily Mallin, MD, FHM
Azalea 3
The Academic and Research forum brings together faculty and researchers to discuss topics of interest to the academic hospital medicine community, such as mentorship, research support, and professional development. Join this collaborative offering of the Academic and Research Committees.

Canadian Hospitalists
Serge Soolsma, MD
Chesapeake K
This forum provides a unique setting for Canadian-based hospitalists to gather as an organized group, network, and discuss common issues.
 

Critical Care
David Aymond, MD
Chesapeake 1
This forum will explore the role of the hospitalist functioning as an intensivist and/or resuscitationist. Discussion items include personal experience, available education, and SHM’s support for this endeavor.

Hospitalists Trained in Family Medicine
Patricia Seymour, MD, FHM
Magnolia 2
Participants will network and discuss training, achieving recognition, access in the job market, and national trends related to hospitalists trained in family medicine.
 

Hospital Medicine Administrators
Larissa Smith; Elda Dede
Camellia 2
Practice administrators are important members of the hospitalist team. In this forum, administrators can voice their unique perspectives and hear from their peers.
 

International Hospital Medicine
Guillherme Barcellos, MD, SFHM
Magnolia 1
This forum is designed to provide an opportunity for attendees who practice hospital medicine outside of North America to share issues and ideas.
 

Leadership in Hospital Medicine
Thomas McIlraith, MD, SFHM, CLHM; Rob Zipper, MD, MMM, SFHM
Chesapeake 7-8
Want to be a better leader? A better coach and mentor? Do you want to drive quality improvement at your hospital? We will review, discuss, and shape the resources and programmatic offerings that are needed to promote leadership skill development at all levels. We will also review SHM’s existing programs, including Leadership Academies, the Leadership Certificate Program, e-learning, and the HMX: Leadership Alumni Forum.

Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants
Leah Schmitz, PA-C; Meredith Wold, PA-C
Chesapeake 5-6
Network with your peers and learn about the work of the SHM Committee on Hospitalist Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants.

Oncology Hospitalists
Barbara Egan, MD, SFHM Joshua
Chesapeake 3
This special interest forum will explore the role of hospitalists on oncology services. Discussion items may include personal experiences and how to succeed as an oncology hospitalist.
 

Pediatric Hospitalists
Weijen Chang, MD
Azalea 2
This forum will provide an opportunity for pediatric hospitalists to network, share, and discuss topics of particular interest to them. Topics will include an update on SHM’s pediatric activities and updates on potential paths to specialty certification.
 

Post-Acute Care Providers
Bob Reynolds, MD
Chesapeake 2
This forum provides opportunities for hospitalists who practice in or are interested in learning more about working in or becoming more involved in the post-acute care arena such as SNFs, LTACs, and rehab facilities.
 

Residents & Medical Students
Aram Namavar, MS; Pam Vila
Chesapeake 9
This forum provides an opportunity for SHM Resident and Student Interest Group members to shape the mission and academic-year agenda in line with the goals set forth by the PIT Committee.
 

Rural Hospitalists
Ken Simone, DO, SFHM; Michael Sullivan, MD
Chesapeake J
Hospital medicine groups in rural areas face some unique problems, from recruitment, night call, and staffing to communicating with geographically dispersed primary care physicians. This forum provides an opportunity for hospitalists in rural areas to share their issues and concerns and to see how others have solved similar problems.


Veterans Affairs Hospitalists
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA, FHM;
Peter Kaboli, MD, FHM
Magnolia 3
This forum provides opportunities in networking and discussion for hospitalists who work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Tuesday, March 26 – 5:30 p.m. – 6:25 p.m.

Advocacy & Public Policy
Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPH, SFHM; Josh Boswell, JD
Chesapeake 8
During this forum with SHM’s advocacy leaders and staff, you will learn about the direction of SHM’s Advocacy & Public Policy work and how you can help. Discussion will focus on SHM’s new Advocacy & Public Policy section and how you can participate and share your own ideas.

Care of Vulnerable Populations
Mara Bann, MD; Kristin Knox, MD
Camellia 2
SHM’s Caring for Vulnerable Populations section aims to increase awareness and improve quality of care for vulnerable and underserved patient populations. The principles and skills needed to care effectively for vulnerable patients span practitioners across all health systems, though particularly apply to hospitalists practicing in safety net and resource-limited settings.
 

Diversity and Inclusion
Marisha Burden, MD, SFHM; Areeba Kara, MD, MS
Chesapeake F
SHM is committed to a diverse and inclusive membership. This forum invites hospitalists from any underrepresented group to discuss issues, concerns, and solutions to improve their career opportunities and workforce diversity. This forum would be for HM leaders who would like to discuss strategies for expanding the diversity and inclusion of their HM groups.
 

Ethics in Hospital Medicine
David Alfandre, MD, MSPH
Chesapeake L
This forum serves as a resource for discussion, coaching, and mentorship on common and challenging ethical concerns that hospitalists face. We aim to support SHM members in collaborating on ethics scholarship and projects.
 

Global Health and Human Rights
Jonathan Kirsch, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 9
SHM’s Global Health and Human Rights section has been established to build interest and engagement in global health and human rights work among hospitalists. The section also plans to build long-term collaborations in the United States and abroad.

Health Information Technology​​​​​​​
Cheng-Kai Kao, MD, FHM; Andrew Young, DO, FHM;
Rupesh Prasad, MD, MPH, SFHM
National Harbor 9
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to offer SHM and the IT Committee input on what would be most beneficial to them regarding implementing, managing, and participating in health/hospital IT initiatives.

Hospital Medicine Disaster Preparedness and Management
Maria (Gaby) Frank, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 6
This forum, new for 2019, will explore the role and address the challenges of hospital medicine in disaster preparedness and management at both a local and national level. We look forward to building a coalition of individuals to help us tackle and provide guidance on this area.
 

Med-Peds Hospitalists​​​​​​​
Keely Dwyer-Matzky, MD, FHM; Susan Hunt, MD
Chesapeake DE
This forum will explore the role of Med-Peds physicians in hospitalist medicine. Discussion items may include personal experiences, how to create more Med-Peds jobs, and how to succeed as a Med-Peds hospitalist.

Multi-Site HMG Leaders
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM; Ryan Brown, MD, FHM
National Harbor 8
This forum is for physician and administrative leaders who are responsible for managing multiple hospitalist practice sites within the same health system. The number of people with this role has increased significantly in the last few years and comes with challenges that are different from those faced by the lead hospitalist at a single site.
 

Night Medicine​​​​​​​
Kathleen Atlas, MD
Chesapeake H
Connect with night medicine care providers to share experiences and address obstacles unique to working overnight, including best practices, teaching, career development, and wellness.

Palliative Care​​​​​​​
Jeffrey Frank, MD, MBA;
Rab Razzak, MD, MBBS
Chesapeake 1
This special interest forum invites all hospitalists interested in expanding palliative care (PC) at their hospitals as well as improving your own PC skills. This topic includes coordinating PC with your available resources to ensure our patients have access to PC. Share your experiences, barriers, training, and ongoing PC education in your current role as a hospitalist or as a PC provider.

Patient Experience​​​​​​​
Patrick Kneeland, MD
Chesapeake 5
Join the Patient Experience forum to exchange ideas about how hospitalists can enhance patients’ care experiences, while also improving professional satisfaction. Learn about the work of SHM’s Patient Experience Committee and opportunities for getting involved in SHM’s patient experience initiatives.

Perioperative Care
Steven Cohn, MD; Kurt Pfeifer, MD, SFHM
Azalea 3
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to interact with colleagues involved in various roles in perioperative medicine. The group will develop an active listserv for discussion of interesting or difficult patient management cases, administrative issues related to preoperative clinics and comanagement services, and networking.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
Benji Mathews, MD, CLHM, SFHM; Gordon Johnson, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 4
This forum will discuss opportunities to collaborate and standardize processes for POCUS. The forum will provide further information and answer questions about SHM’s National Certificate of Completion Program in POCUS. In addition, discussion will revolve around privileging at your own institution, gaining skills, and the challenges and successes of using POCUS.
 

Practice Management​​​​​​​
Dea Robinson, MA, FACMPE, CPC;
Dale Wiersma, MD, FHM
Camellia 1
This forum will focus on issues related to the business aspects of hospital medicine and the management of hospital medicine groups. Come hear about successes and challenges related to staffing, scheduling, communication, engagement, and compensation.
 

Quality Improvement​​​​​​​
Mangla Gulati, MD, SFHM;
Matthew Cerasale, MD, MPH, SFHM;
Tulay Aksoy, MD, FACP, FHM
Chesapeake 2-3
This forum provides a venue for connecting with SHM’s QI and patient safety community and engaging with leaders, peers, and collaborators to share ideas and inform SHM’s QI efforts. Discussion during the forum will focus on what hospitalists need to know to become involved with QI at SHM or locally. Hear about SHM’s plans for future QI initiatives.
 

Women in Hospital Medicine
Emily Gottenborg, MD
Chesapeake 7
This forum provides an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to women in hospital medicine and strategies for success/coping. Discussion items may include career satisfaction, occupational stresses, and promoting leadership.
 

These small-group sessions take place Monday, 4:30 p.m. to 5:25 p.m. and Tuesday, 5:30 p.m. to 6:25 p.m.

Monday, March 25 – 4:30 p.m. – 5:25 p.m.

Academic and Research
​​​​​​Shaker Eid, MD, MBA, SFHM; Emily Mallin, MD, FHM
Azalea 3
The Academic and Research forum brings together faculty and researchers to discuss topics of interest to the academic hospital medicine community, such as mentorship, research support, and professional development. Join this collaborative offering of the Academic and Research Committees.

Canadian Hospitalists
Serge Soolsma, MD
Chesapeake K
This forum provides a unique setting for Canadian-based hospitalists to gather as an organized group, network, and discuss common issues.
 

Critical Care
David Aymond, MD
Chesapeake 1
This forum will explore the role of the hospitalist functioning as an intensivist and/or resuscitationist. Discussion items include personal experience, available education, and SHM’s support for this endeavor.

Hospitalists Trained in Family Medicine
Patricia Seymour, MD, FHM
Magnolia 2
Participants will network and discuss training, achieving recognition, access in the job market, and national trends related to hospitalists trained in family medicine.
 

Hospital Medicine Administrators
Larissa Smith; Elda Dede
Camellia 2
Practice administrators are important members of the hospitalist team. In this forum, administrators can voice their unique perspectives and hear from their peers.
 

International Hospital Medicine
Guillherme Barcellos, MD, SFHM
Magnolia 1
This forum is designed to provide an opportunity for attendees who practice hospital medicine outside of North America to share issues and ideas.
 

Leadership in Hospital Medicine
Thomas McIlraith, MD, SFHM, CLHM; Rob Zipper, MD, MMM, SFHM
Chesapeake 7-8
Want to be a better leader? A better coach and mentor? Do you want to drive quality improvement at your hospital? We will review, discuss, and shape the resources and programmatic offerings that are needed to promote leadership skill development at all levels. We will also review SHM’s existing programs, including Leadership Academies, the Leadership Certificate Program, e-learning, and the HMX: Leadership Alumni Forum.

Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants
Leah Schmitz, PA-C; Meredith Wold, PA-C
Chesapeake 5-6
Network with your peers and learn about the work of the SHM Committee on Hospitalist Nurse Practitioners/Physician Assistants.

Oncology Hospitalists
Barbara Egan, MD, SFHM Joshua
Chesapeake 3
This special interest forum will explore the role of hospitalists on oncology services. Discussion items may include personal experiences and how to succeed as an oncology hospitalist.
 

Pediatric Hospitalists
Weijen Chang, MD
Azalea 2
This forum will provide an opportunity for pediatric hospitalists to network, share, and discuss topics of particular interest to them. Topics will include an update on SHM’s pediatric activities and updates on potential paths to specialty certification.
 

Post-Acute Care Providers
Bob Reynolds, MD
Chesapeake 2
This forum provides opportunities for hospitalists who practice in or are interested in learning more about working in or becoming more involved in the post-acute care arena such as SNFs, LTACs, and rehab facilities.
 

Residents & Medical Students
Aram Namavar, MS; Pam Vila
Chesapeake 9
This forum provides an opportunity for SHM Resident and Student Interest Group members to shape the mission and academic-year agenda in line with the goals set forth by the PIT Committee.
 

Rural Hospitalists
Ken Simone, DO, SFHM; Michael Sullivan, MD
Chesapeake J
Hospital medicine groups in rural areas face some unique problems, from recruitment, night call, and staffing to communicating with geographically dispersed primary care physicians. This forum provides an opportunity for hospitalists in rural areas to share their issues and concerns and to see how others have solved similar problems.


Veterans Affairs Hospitalists
Kathlyn Fletcher, MD, MA, FHM;
Peter Kaboli, MD, FHM
Magnolia 3
This forum provides opportunities in networking and discussion for hospitalists who work at the Department of Veterans Affairs.

Tuesday, March 26 – 5:30 p.m. – 6:25 p.m.

Advocacy & Public Policy
Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPH, SFHM; Josh Boswell, JD
Chesapeake 8
During this forum with SHM’s advocacy leaders and staff, you will learn about the direction of SHM’s Advocacy & Public Policy work and how you can help. Discussion will focus on SHM’s new Advocacy & Public Policy section and how you can participate and share your own ideas.

Care of Vulnerable Populations
Mara Bann, MD; Kristin Knox, MD
Camellia 2
SHM’s Caring for Vulnerable Populations section aims to increase awareness and improve quality of care for vulnerable and underserved patient populations. The principles and skills needed to care effectively for vulnerable patients span practitioners across all health systems, though particularly apply to hospitalists practicing in safety net and resource-limited settings.
 

Diversity and Inclusion
Marisha Burden, MD, SFHM; Areeba Kara, MD, MS
Chesapeake F
SHM is committed to a diverse and inclusive membership. This forum invites hospitalists from any underrepresented group to discuss issues, concerns, and solutions to improve their career opportunities and workforce diversity. This forum would be for HM leaders who would like to discuss strategies for expanding the diversity and inclusion of their HM groups.
 

Ethics in Hospital Medicine
David Alfandre, MD, MSPH
Chesapeake L
This forum serves as a resource for discussion, coaching, and mentorship on common and challenging ethical concerns that hospitalists face. We aim to support SHM members in collaborating on ethics scholarship and projects.
 

Global Health and Human Rights
Jonathan Kirsch, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 9
SHM’s Global Health and Human Rights section has been established to build interest and engagement in global health and human rights work among hospitalists. The section also plans to build long-term collaborations in the United States and abroad.

Health Information Technology​​​​​​​
Cheng-Kai Kao, MD, FHM; Andrew Young, DO, FHM;
Rupesh Prasad, MD, MPH, SFHM
National Harbor 9
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to offer SHM and the IT Committee input on what would be most beneficial to them regarding implementing, managing, and participating in health/hospital IT initiatives.

Hospital Medicine Disaster Preparedness and Management
Maria (Gaby) Frank, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 6
This forum, new for 2019, will explore the role and address the challenges of hospital medicine in disaster preparedness and management at both a local and national level. We look forward to building a coalition of individuals to help us tackle and provide guidance on this area.
 

Med-Peds Hospitalists​​​​​​​
Keely Dwyer-Matzky, MD, FHM; Susan Hunt, MD
Chesapeake DE
This forum will explore the role of Med-Peds physicians in hospitalist medicine. Discussion items may include personal experiences, how to create more Med-Peds jobs, and how to succeed as a Med-Peds hospitalist.

Multi-Site HMG Leaders
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM; Ryan Brown, MD, FHM
National Harbor 8
This forum is for physician and administrative leaders who are responsible for managing multiple hospitalist practice sites within the same health system. The number of people with this role has increased significantly in the last few years and comes with challenges that are different from those faced by the lead hospitalist at a single site.
 

Night Medicine​​​​​​​
Kathleen Atlas, MD
Chesapeake H
Connect with night medicine care providers to share experiences and address obstacles unique to working overnight, including best practices, teaching, career development, and wellness.

Palliative Care​​​​​​​
Jeffrey Frank, MD, MBA;
Rab Razzak, MD, MBBS
Chesapeake 1
This special interest forum invites all hospitalists interested in expanding palliative care (PC) at their hospitals as well as improving your own PC skills. This topic includes coordinating PC with your available resources to ensure our patients have access to PC. Share your experiences, barriers, training, and ongoing PC education in your current role as a hospitalist or as a PC provider.

Patient Experience​​​​​​​
Patrick Kneeland, MD
Chesapeake 5
Join the Patient Experience forum to exchange ideas about how hospitalists can enhance patients’ care experiences, while also improving professional satisfaction. Learn about the work of SHM’s Patient Experience Committee and opportunities for getting involved in SHM’s patient experience initiatives.

Perioperative Care
Steven Cohn, MD; Kurt Pfeifer, MD, SFHM
Azalea 3
This forum provides an opportunity for attendees to interact with colleagues involved in various roles in perioperative medicine. The group will develop an active listserv for discussion of interesting or difficult patient management cases, administrative issues related to preoperative clinics and comanagement services, and networking.

Point-of-Care Ultrasound (POCUS)
Benji Mathews, MD, CLHM, SFHM; Gordon Johnson, MD, FHM
Chesapeake 4
This forum will discuss opportunities to collaborate and standardize processes for POCUS. The forum will provide further information and answer questions about SHM’s National Certificate of Completion Program in POCUS. In addition, discussion will revolve around privileging at your own institution, gaining skills, and the challenges and successes of using POCUS.
 

Practice Management​​​​​​​
Dea Robinson, MA, FACMPE, CPC;
Dale Wiersma, MD, FHM
Camellia 1
This forum will focus on issues related to the business aspects of hospital medicine and the management of hospital medicine groups. Come hear about successes and challenges related to staffing, scheduling, communication, engagement, and compensation.
 

Quality Improvement​​​​​​​
Mangla Gulati, MD, SFHM;
Matthew Cerasale, MD, MPH, SFHM;
Tulay Aksoy, MD, FACP, FHM
Chesapeake 2-3
This forum provides a venue for connecting with SHM’s QI and patient safety community and engaging with leaders, peers, and collaborators to share ideas and inform SHM’s QI efforts. Discussion during the forum will focus on what hospitalists need to know to become involved with QI at SHM or locally. Hear about SHM’s plans for future QI initiatives.
 

Women in Hospital Medicine
Emily Gottenborg, MD
Chesapeake 7
This forum provides an opportunity to discuss issues relevant to women in hospital medicine and strategies for success/coping. Discussion items may include career satisfaction, occupational stresses, and promoting leadership.
 

At the 2019 Annual Conference, the Society of Hospital Medicine is building on its commitment to develop global relationships and serve as a resource for hospital-based medicine programs around the world. The International Lounge at HM19 complements a busy day of sessions and offers attendees a chance to unwind and expand their perspective on international hospital medicine.

“Once again SHM will provide a special place for our international attendees at HM 2019 to network and meet with SHM board members, hospitalist leaders, and fellow attendees,” Laurence Wellikson, MD, MHM, CEO of SHM, said in an interview. The International Lounge will be held in National Harbor 3 and will be open on March 26 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

While no formal presentations are scheduled for the International Lounge, the goal is to provide an informal place to gather and communicate, said Dr. Wellikson.

However, some programs and special events related to international hospital medicine are scheduled for other points during the annual conference. A panel discussion on March 25 from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. will focus on hospital medicine in Brazil, Holland, and the United Arab Emirates and will include information on the growth of hospital medicine internationally. In addition, an International Special Interest Forum will be held on March 25 from 4:30 until 5:30 p.m. in Magnolia 1.

“If you are from outside the U.S. or if you are interested in networking with or learning more about the growth of hospital medicine around the world, then consider visiting the International Lounge on March 26 or attending the Special Interest Forum or the panel discussion on March 25,” Dr. Wellikson said.

Hospitalist medicine is the fastest growing specialty in the United States, and the field continues to expand beyond the United States, according to a report published in 2018 in the International Journal of General Medicine.

Reasons for the growth of international hospital medicine remain similar to those in the United States despite differences in cultural norms, regulations, and health care systems, according to the report. Drivers of hospitalist programs abroad include interest in optimizing hospital operations, containing costs, and improving quality and safety of patient care. The report cited lack of training, care transitions, low compensation, and stigma as barriers to the development of hospitalist programs internationally. However, continued support from the United States to support international hospitalist groups as they organize will help support the growth of hospitalist medicine worldwide, the authors noted.

Throughout the year, SHM supports the growth of international chapters under the staff support of Lisa Kroll, and any attendees with questions about international hospital medicine programs can contact her at lkroll@hospitalmedicine.org. Ongoing SHM goals in support of international hospital medicine include an Internet-based regional community on the society’s HMX platform, as well as helping international chapters get organized and develop their own meetings.
 

International Hospital Medicine in U.A.E., Brazil and Holland
Monday, 12:45 – 1:30 p.m.
Potomac ABCD

International Special Interest Forum
Monday, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Magnolia 1

At the 2019 Annual Conference, the Society of Hospital Medicine is building on its commitment to develop global relationships and serve as a resource for hospital-based medicine programs around the world. The International Lounge at HM19 complements a busy day of sessions and offers attendees a chance to unwind and expand their perspective on international hospital medicine.

“Once again SHM will provide a special place for our international attendees at HM 2019 to network and meet with SHM board members, hospitalist leaders, and fellow attendees,” Laurence Wellikson, MD, MHM, CEO of SHM, said in an interview. The International Lounge will be held in National Harbor 3 and will be open on March 26 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

While no formal presentations are scheduled for the International Lounge, the goal is to provide an informal place to gather and communicate, said Dr. Wellikson.

However, some programs and special events related to international hospital medicine are scheduled for other points during the annual conference. A panel discussion on March 25 from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. will focus on hospital medicine in Brazil, Holland, and the United Arab Emirates and will include information on the growth of hospital medicine internationally. In addition, an International Special Interest Forum will be held on March 25 from 4:30 until 5:30 p.m. in Magnolia 1.

“If you are from outside the U.S. or if you are interested in networking with or learning more about the growth of hospital medicine around the world, then consider visiting the International Lounge on March 26 or attending the Special Interest Forum or the panel discussion on March 25,” Dr. Wellikson said.

Hospitalist medicine is the fastest growing specialty in the United States, and the field continues to expand beyond the United States, according to a report published in 2018 in the International Journal of General Medicine.

Reasons for the growth of international hospital medicine remain similar to those in the United States despite differences in cultural norms, regulations, and health care systems, according to the report. Drivers of hospitalist programs abroad include interest in optimizing hospital operations, containing costs, and improving quality and safety of patient care. The report cited lack of training, care transitions, low compensation, and stigma as barriers to the development of hospitalist programs internationally. However, continued support from the United States to support international hospitalist groups as they organize will help support the growth of hospitalist medicine worldwide, the authors noted.

Throughout the year, SHM supports the growth of international chapters under the staff support of Lisa Kroll, and any attendees with questions about international hospital medicine programs can contact her at lkroll@hospitalmedicine.org. Ongoing SHM goals in support of international hospital medicine include an Internet-based regional community on the society’s HMX platform, as well as helping international chapters get organized and develop their own meetings.
 

International Hospital Medicine in U.A.E., Brazil and Holland
Monday, 12:45 – 1:30 p.m.
Potomac ABCD

International Special Interest Forum
Monday, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Magnolia 1

At the 2019 Annual Conference, the Society of Hospital Medicine is building on its commitment to develop global relationships and serve as a resource for hospital-based medicine programs around the world. The International Lounge at HM19 complements a busy day of sessions and offers attendees a chance to unwind and expand their perspective on international hospital medicine.

“Once again SHM will provide a special place for our international attendees at HM 2019 to network and meet with SHM board members, hospitalist leaders, and fellow attendees,” Laurence Wellikson, MD, MHM, CEO of SHM, said in an interview. The International Lounge will be held in National Harbor 3 and will be open on March 26 from 10:00 a.m. until 3:00 p.m.

While no formal presentations are scheduled for the International Lounge, the goal is to provide an informal place to gather and communicate, said Dr. Wellikson.

However, some programs and special events related to international hospital medicine are scheduled for other points during the annual conference. A panel discussion on March 25 from 12:45 to 1:30 p.m. will focus on hospital medicine in Brazil, Holland, and the United Arab Emirates and will include information on the growth of hospital medicine internationally. In addition, an International Special Interest Forum will be held on March 25 from 4:30 until 5:30 p.m. in Magnolia 1.

“If you are from outside the U.S. or if you are interested in networking with or learning more about the growth of hospital medicine around the world, then consider visiting the International Lounge on March 26 or attending the Special Interest Forum or the panel discussion on March 25,” Dr. Wellikson said.

Hospitalist medicine is the fastest growing specialty in the United States, and the field continues to expand beyond the United States, according to a report published in 2018 in the International Journal of General Medicine.

Reasons for the growth of international hospital medicine remain similar to those in the United States despite differences in cultural norms, regulations, and health care systems, according to the report. Drivers of hospitalist programs abroad include interest in optimizing hospital operations, containing costs, and improving quality and safety of patient care. The report cited lack of training, care transitions, low compensation, and stigma as barriers to the development of hospitalist programs internationally. However, continued support from the United States to support international hospitalist groups as they organize will help support the growth of hospitalist medicine worldwide, the authors noted.

Throughout the year, SHM supports the growth of international chapters under the staff support of Lisa Kroll, and any attendees with questions about international hospital medicine programs can contact her at lkroll@hospitalmedicine.org. Ongoing SHM goals in support of international hospital medicine include an Internet-based regional community on the society’s HMX platform, as well as helping international chapters get organized and develop their own meetings.
 

International Hospital Medicine in U.A.E., Brazil and Holland
Monday, 12:45 – 1:30 p.m.
Potomac ABCD

International Special Interest Forum
Monday, 4:30 – 5:30 p.m.
Magnolia 1