The Hospitalist

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Listen to new SHM President Shaun Frost explain why HM has to be accountable

Dr. Frost addressed more than 2,000 hospitalists at HM12

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Listen to Medicare CMO Pat Conway discuss the future

Pat Conway has a bold vision for healthcare, and hospitalists role in the system

Article: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Is Part-Time Hospitalist Work Right for You?

Part-time physicians report higher work satisfaction, less burnout, and greater work control

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Experts speak about work-life issues for female hospitalists

Janet Nagamine says hospitals need to be more flexible with schedules; Iris Grimm says work-life balance differs from person to person

Audio File: ONLINE EXCLUSIVE: Listen to HM12 faculty and attendees

Ethan Cumbler, Vineet Arora, and Dwayne Gard

Cover Story: Work-Life Balance for Hospitalists a People Issue, Not a Women's Issue

Individual hospitalists can mitigate strain and dissatisfaction by assessing their life and goals, and developing a work-life balance that is right for them.

Cover Story: HM12 Highlights Hospitalists' Excellence, Importance to Healthcare's Future

SHM’s annual meeting, held April 1-4 at the San Diego Convention Center, drew thousands to educational sessions, CME-eligible pre-courses, and plenary addresses.

Cover Story: HM12's Clinical Pearls

Team Hospitalist delivers key takeaways from the annual meeting’s clinical tracks

Cover Story: HM12 Experts Teach Hospitalists to Deal with Practice-Management Issues

Hospitalists looking for realtime advice on the business side of medicine came away from HM12 last month with brown bags full of tips.

Cover Story: Vanderbilt Hospitalist Impresses RIV Judges with Sample Size, Takes Home Research Prize

“Veterans Administration Acute Care 30-Day Mortality Model: Development, Validation, and Performance Variation” poster wins honor.

Cover Story: Hospitalist Investigators Impress Judges at HM12’s Annual RIV Competition

Nearly 150 HM-focused innovations abstracts were submitted for the 2012 Research, Innovations, and Clinical Vignettes poster competition at HM12, and more than 60 of the submitters were invited to display posters in San Diego.

Cover Story: HM12’s Professional Development Offerings Have Singular Focus

This year’s pre-course lineup included the MOC test preparation, hands-on classes in medical procedures and ultrasound usage, and a debut class on “How to Improve Performance in CMS’s Value-Based Purchasing Program.”

Cover Story: D.C. Insiders, HM Leaders Urge Hospitalists to Stay in Fight to Achieve Quality in Era of Reform

SHM Public Policy Committee Chair Ron Greeno, MD, MHM, outlined how  accountable care organizations are designed to change the healthcare payment paradigm.

Cover Story: HM Leaders Call for Thoughtful, Budget-Minded Advancement of Patient-Safety Reforms

The crossroads of patient safety, QI, and the use of technology from medical devices to iPhones was a major theme at SHM’s annual meeting, April 1-4 at the San Diego Convention Center.

Article: Team Hospitalist Seats 4 Members

Four hospitalists have joined Team Hospitalist, the only reader-involvement group of its kind in HM.

In the Literature: ITL: Physician Reviews of HM-Relevant Research

Online calculator helps prevent post-op respiratory failure; new drug for long-term treatment of PE; benefits of triple therapy for COPD; knee-length compression stockings as good as thigh-length for PTS; video monitoring improves hand hygiene; asymptomatic bacteriuria often misdiagnosed as UTI; CT accurate for lower GI bleeding diagnosis; switch from albuterol to lavalbuterol to reduce tachycardia not recommended.

Pediatric HM Literature: Urinary Tract Infections Do Not Play a Significant Role in Chronic Kidney Disease

What is the association between childhood urinary tract infections and chronic kidney disease?

Key Clinical Guidelines: Guidelines for Treatment of Uncomplicated Cystitis and Pyelonephritis in Healthy, Community-Dwelling Women

Uncomplicated cystitis is one of the most common indications for prescribing antimicrobial therapy to otherwise healthy women, but wide variation in prescribing practices has been described.

Society Pages: SHM Offers Multitude of Educational, Professional Development Opportunities

In addition to the annual meeting, SHM and its partners bring hospitalists the very best in education, professional development, and networking in the form of in-person meetings.

Society Pages: Survey Insights: The Unique Connection between Compensation and Productivity

Analysis of the 2011 SHM/MGMA State of Hospital Medicine report.

Society Pages: HM On the Move

Jeff Dickerson, MD, Ignacio Calvo, MD, nurse practitioner Abe Keating, Eric McFarling, MD, Emily Hebert, MD

Society Pages: Meaninful Use of HIT: Are Hospitalists Eligible?

Are hospitalists eligible for health information technology incentives under stage 2 of meaningful use?

Public Policy: Beware Hospital Compare? New Measures Highlight Questions Surrounding Healthcare Quality Report Cards

A recent addition of patient-safety metrics has rekindled skeptical questions about the validity, purpose, and effectiveness of public healthcare quality report cards.

Innovations: Cleveland Clinic Builds Urgency around Patient Experiences

Efforts to create a greater sense of urgency over patient satisfaction within the hospitalist service at the Cleveland Clinic using an eight-step model for changing organizational culture were outlined in an abstract presented at HM11.

Innovations: By the Numbers: 3,000

Approximate number of million-dollar hospitalization bills in Northern California hospitals in 2010.

Innovations: C. Diff Deaths at All-Time High

Both incidence and deaths related to the bacterial infection Clostridium difficile have reached an all-time high, according to the CDC.

Innovations: AMA Microsite Offers New Practice-Management Resources

In January, the American Medical Association announced a redesigned website for its Practice Management Center, a resource designed to help physicians manage their practice more effectively.

Innovations: Hospital Quality Reporting Fails to Impact Death Rates

A study concludes that Hospital Compare, the government’s national hospital quality data reporting system, has produced no reductions in 30-day mortality rates for heart attacks and pneumonia.

Letters: SHM Should Create Task Force to Explore Reimbursement Methodology Change

I think it’s about time that we physicians take a stand and try to change some of the ridiculous word games going on in Medicare reimbursement circles.

Letters: Do Not Swab Any Superficial Dermatologic Wound Without Sterilizing the Surface

Letter in response to "10 Things Hospitalists Should Know about Infectious Disease."

On the Horizon: Win Whitcomb: Hospitalists, PCPs, and Population Health

Game on with SHM’s Complex Medically Ill Project

President’s Column: Shaun Frost: Accountability Is Key to Hospital Medicine's Success

We all must strive to consistently hold ourselves, and each other, personally accountable for embracing the work necessary to realize HM’s potential to be a true healthcare reform effector.

From the Editor’s Desk: Why Hospitalists are Important, Integral, and Irreplaceable

As an introduction to my new role as physician editor, I should explain why I took this on. Simply stated: I drank the Kool-Aid. I firmly believe in the power and future of hospital medicine.

Practice Management: John Nelson: Your Hospital Should Use Scripts to Describe Hospitalists to Patients

Ideally, all communication about the hospitalist as an individual and the whole system of hospitalist care should help reassure the patient. Sadly, many people at the hospital unwittingly do the opposite.

Ask Dr. Hospitalist: Hospitalists Are Responsible for Discharge, Even If Patient Doesn't Leave the ED

Generally, when the ED doctor thinks that a patient warrants admission, then, in their mind, the case then belongs to you, not them.