Mike Radzienda writes…

Over the past ten years, hospitals have been bombarded with external regulatory mandates aimed at improving quality of care.  Amidst these challenges, payer mixes have dwindled and operating margins have narrowed.  This has left hospitals few resources for implementing thoughtful and robust quality improvement infrastructures.  As a result, hospital COOs struggle to develop meaningful partnerships with physicians who can effectively advance the local QI agenda.

Due to a dearth of availability and leadership in the traditional physician staff model, hospital administrators have taken on this QI agenda. This tactic has failed (more…)

Troy Ahlstrom writes…

The SHM Productivity Survey Closes in a Mere Month.

The MGMA-SHM Hospitalist Productivity and Compensation Survey is ongoing NOW, and data submission closes March 12th.  As you know, SHM has provided the most comprehensive data set and incisive analysis regarding Hospitalist practice for 10 years now.  We are not the only source of such information, but we have provided the most detailed, comprehensive analysis of Hospitalist practice in the past.

This year, in 2010, with all of the tumult and unrest over budgets, the economy, and healthcare reform, we will all need (more…)

John Nelson writes…

If you’re a hospitalist, you’re probably asked periodically to describe what a hospitalist does, and have probably developed a fairly standard response.  When in a social setting my response is that I’m a doctor that provides non-surgical care of adult hospitalized patients, like those with pneumonia, heart failure, stroke and other such problems.  When asked by a patient or family in the hospital, I usually give an answer that is more customized to the patient’s particular medical problem.

In November 2009 the SHM Board of Directors approved a new definition of a hospitalist and Hospital Medicine. (more…)