SHM Annual Meeting Draws Thousands to Learn, Network
NATIONAL HARBOR, MD—HM13 officially kicks off this morning, but the four-day confab already is well under way.
SHM’s annual meeting began yesterday with eight day-long pre-courses. Today’s schedule includes keynote addresses from hospitalist Patrick Conway, MD, MSc, FAAP, SFHM, chief medical officer of the Centers for Medicaid & Medicare Services (CMS); and patient-centerdness guru David Feinberg, MD, MBA, president of UCLA Health System in Los Angeles.
The meeting expects to attract 2,500 hospitalists and includes nearly 100 breakout sessions, the popular Research, Innovations, and Clinical Vignettes (RIV) poster competition, and induction of the latest class of fellows, senior fellows, and masters. New SHM president Eric Howell, MD, SFHM, will offer Saturday’s keynote address, and true to annual meeting tradition, HM pioneer Bob Wachter, MD, MHM, will wrap up this year’s conference with a keynote focusing on quality and patient safety.
If that sounds like a blitzkrieg of social, business, and educational activities, well, that’s exactly what lures attendees like Ibe Mbanu, MD, MBA, MPH, medical director of the adult hospitalist department at Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital in Richmond, Va.
“The landscape in health care is rapidly evolving at a frantic pace,” Dr. Mbanu says. “I essentially came here to get a condensed source of information on how to manage the changes that are coming through the pipeline, and how to effectively run my department.”
Hospitalist Roman Cortez, MD, who helps run Inpatient Medical Service in Kailua, Hawaii, is at his second annual meeting. Last year was his first and he enjoyed it so much, he brought his business partners this year. And after just a few hours yesterday, he already was glad they made the 4,800-mile trek.
“This is definitely my priority conference every year,” Dr. Cortez adds. “If I can only go to one conference, this is the one I will go to from now on.”