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Hospitalist Leadership Connection

This e-mail newsletter focuses on hospitalist management issues. Look for it each week to bring you regulatory news, research, hot topics, and long-term trends in the field of inpatient care.

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Hospitalist Leadership Connection

Issue 52, December 23, 2008

• The case for systems support in EMRs

  An EMR can facilitate daily communication between the hospitalist and the primary care physician...

• Q&A: Adam Singer, MD, of IPC advocates for the virtual office

  HCPro spoke with Adam Singer, MD, CEO of IPC The Hospitalist Company and Modern Healthcare’s...

• Nocturnists: The debate continues

  Hospitalists continue to debate the overnight coverage model: do 24/7 programs actually improve...

Issue 51, December 23, 2008

• Set performance objectives

  The best hospitalist programs adopt a balanced approach to performance measurement that don’t...

• Rewarding provider cooperation: P4P report suggests payment reform

  Pay-for-performance programs should not simply reward physicians individually but reward them for...

• Do admitting teams document patient wishes for care?

  A new study has found that patient care plans were more likely documented by the hospitalist...

Issue 50, December 16, 2008

• Remember important communication details in your sign-out note

  An off-service note should be generated at the time a new hospitalist attending physician assumes...

• Joint Commission warns of computer-related safety risks

  Healthcare organizations should be cautious when using computer-related technologies as the use may...

• IOM proposes resident sleep hour changes: What it means for hospital medicine

  The Institute of Medicine (IOM) proposed revisions to medical residents sleep hours to reduce...

Issue 49, December 9, 2008

• Hospitalists and palliative care

  Hospitalists are well positioned to take the lead in emerging palliative programs, according to an...

• CMS hops on bandwagon for personal health records

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) last month announced a new program: Medicare Personal...

• Hospitalists improve ED throughput at John Hopkins

  Programs that utilize active bed management by hospitalists can speed up ED throughput and reduce...

Issue 48, December 2, 2008

• Hospitalist Leadership Connection: New name, same newsletter

  Welcome to the redesigned issue of Hospitalist Leadership Connection, the new name for Hospitalist...

• Hospitalists workshops improve geriatric care education

  In a recent study, researchers found that third-year medical students better identified delirium in...

• CMS releases VBP paper

  Under the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008, section 131, the Secretary...

• How to construct quality bonus plans

  Quality bonus plans tend to be more subjective than productivity-based bonus plans and therefore...

Issue 47, November 25, 2008

• Maximizing your top-line revenue

  One question regarding your hospitalist program structure to ask is, “Are you maximizing your...

• A New Look!

  Next week, our Hospitalist Program Weekly e-newsletter will sport a new title, Hospitalist...

• Joint Commission releases guiding principals for hospital of the future

  With an aging population and increasing healthcare costs, hospitals face the challenge of...

• Patient care and quality improving, says Joint Commission report

  Joint-Commission accredited hospitals show improvement in patient safety compliance and quality...

Issue 46, November 18, 2008

• How to form a performance committee

  The purpose of creating a hospitalist performance committee is to improve quality, efficiency, and...

• Updates of the hospitalist model

  SHM recommends that physicians receive Medicare reimbursement for the time they dedicate to...

• National Priorities Partnership releases improvement agenda

  The National Priorities Partnership, a coalition of healthcare organizations dedicated to improving...

• Hospitalists coordinate communication, cut costs, and reduce LOS, new study says

  As the first research to link job design (education, consulting, healthcare) to outcomes, the study...

Issue 45, November 11, 2008

• Why use a Web log

  To ensure patient safety and continuity of care, hospitalists must not only establish strong...

• Joint Commission answers FAQs: 2009 Universal Protocol

  The Joint Commission last week released answers to frequently asked questions about the 2009...

• Physician shortage continues

  “The emergency room has become the primary care physician after 5 p.m. for much of the...

Issue 44, November 4, 2008

• Web log for communication

  Some hospitalists programs are turning to electronic means of communication: Web logs, patient...

• Consultant recommendations implemented with CPOEs

  Currently, only half of consultants’ medical recommendations are translated into actual care...

• Patient satisfaction linked to quality

  Since the inception of the Hospital Quality Alliance’s Hospital Consumer Assessment of...

• CMS extends deadline for inpatient quality data

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) changed the deadline for reporting inpatient...

Issue 43, October 28, 2008

• Sample hospitalist program pro forma

  Do you have a business plan with expected return on investment? To plug those numbers into your...

• P4P programs forget patient demographics, sway hospital rankings, study says

  Hospital performance rankings and eligibility for financial benefits may not be accurate in...

• Hospitalist service and house staff service produce equivalent outcomes

  In academic centers, two types of services offer a similar quality and efficiency of patient care...

Issue 42, October 21, 2008

• Tips for effective surgical handoffs

  As residents complete their 80-hour limit for the week, more doctors are changing shifts and...

• Medicaid spending to double in next decade

  The government will spend nearly double on Medicaid annual payments over the next 10 years...

Issue 41, October 14, 2008

• Retention tip: Develop a mentoring program

  Hospitalists programs should implement mentoring programs with the overall goal of retention...

• U of Chicago develops geriatric hospitalist model

  The University of Chicago Curriculum for the Hospitalized Aging Medical Patient (CHAMP) announced a...

• Pediatric hospitalist care cuts costs and LOS, study says

  A staff-only general pediatric hospitalist service can decrease costs and reduce length of stay...

Issue 40, October 7, 2008

• Improve communication with PCPs

  The success of the practitioners’ partnership comes from the careful planning and...

• Specialty hospitals not cost efficient, study says

  Single specialty hospitals are not more cost efficient than their competing full-service hospitals...

• CAPC grades hospitals on palliative care

  The Center to Advance Palliative Care (CAPC) and National Palliative Care Research Center released...

Issue 39, September 30, 2008

• Patient satisfaction soars to all-time high, says Press Ganey survey

  Patient satisfaction has experienced an “unprecedented spike,” according to an...

• Medicare HAC and POA non-payment changes take effective today

  The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) overhauled its system of MS-DRG hospital...

• HBIPS core measure set available today

  Free-standing psychiatric hospitals and accredited hospitals with acute inpatient psychiatric units...

• Survey: Hospitalist program management

  What issues are most important to you? How do you like to get your hospitalist-related news? Have...

Issue 38, September 23, 2008

• Hospitals slow to implement EMRs despite regulation

  Despite updated regulations by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that call for...

• Joint Commission offers patients free pain management brochure

  The Joint Commission (formerly known as JACHO) released a free brochure that physicians can give to...

• Practical tips for conducting an interview

  The interview is where the recruitment game is won or lost. Remember to follow these tips when you...

Issue 37, September 16, 2008

• Choose a billing service

  Selecting a billing service is the key step to building your billing process. If your hospitalist...

• How to follow end-of-life wishes

  As hospitals deal with patients’ end-of-life decisions, hospitalists tend to abide by state...

• Inpatient debate update: Do hospitalists improve care?

  Internet debate erupted this summer among industry experts involved in inpatient medicine...

Issue 36, September 9, 2008

• Update: Cape Cod and Falmouth hospitals save hospitalist jobs

  Cape Cod Hospital will keep on 19 fulltime hospitalists, thanks to a new agreement reached last...

• Palliative care programs save hospitals money

  Hospitals saved $279-$374 a day on patients with palliative care programs, according to a new study...

• The strive for inpatient pediatric consistency

  A recent study by the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings, an organization that touts quality...

• Retention tip: The physician feedback forum

  With the long-term goal of employee retention in mind, hospitals can implement a collaborative...

Issue 35, September 2, 2008

• How to measure quality and collect data

  With agencies such as the Joint Commission (formerly known as JCAHO) recommending that hospitals...

• Documenting success for expansion

  To pitch your program-growth ideas to hospital administrators, offer documented information on the...

• University of Michigan launches specialty-hospitalist alliance program for collaborative research

  Because some programs fail to recognize the importance of specialists in clinical research in...

Issue 34, August 26, 2008

• Correction: Inpatient consultation codes

  Last week, we released a story called “Tip: When to use inpatient consultation codes&rdquo...

• Answering the patient's question in a brochure: "What's a hospitalist?"

  As more patients are cared by hospitalists for the first time, inpatients might have some questions...

• CMS updates pediatric quality measures on Hospital Compare

  Last Wednesday, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), under the U.S. Department...

• Finding ways to support academic hospitalists

  According to a new study released by John Hopkins University School of Medicine, the three-pronged...

Issue 33, August 19, 2008

• When and how inpatient medication errors occur

  During a hospital stay, inpatients experience an average of about 1.5 errors in their medication...

• Tip: When to use inpatient consultation codes

  To avoid overcoding, hospitalists should be aware of when it is or isn’t appropriate to use...

• HHS proposes ICD-10 code

  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on Friday announced its proposal to implement an...

Issue 32, August 12, 2008

• Video: Roger Heroux to talk about hospitalist finances at HCPro seminar

  Roger Heroux, MHA, PhD, CHE, founding partner of Hospitalist Management Resources, LLC, in San...

• MA hospitals to control "healthcare road rage"

  Disruptive physicians sometimes yell or even throw objects at nurses and other medical staff, an...

• The case against comanagement

  Many experts agree: patient comanagment is the solution for streamlining patient care within the...

Issue 31, August 5, 2008

• Video: Martin Buser to talk about hospitalist program pitfalls for HCPro seminar

  Watch a three-minute video of Martin Buser, MPH, FACHE, founding partner of Hospitalist Management...

• Cape Cod Hospital lays off employees

  Despite nationwide efforts to recruit hospitalists, Cape Cod Healthcare Inc. may be laying them...

• What CMS IPPS final rule means for hospitalists

  Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued its inpatient prospective...

Issue 30, July 29, 2008

• Video: Ron Greeno to talk about the business of hospitalist programs for HCPro seminar

  Ron Greeno, senior consultant for The Cogent Group, Brentwood, TN, and founder of Cogent Healthcare...

• Orientation tips for new hospitalist hires

  One way to keep staff on board for the long run is to begin your retention effort on the date of...

• Hospital medicine is the fastest growing specialty

  In a comprehensive post, Wachter details the history of hospital medicine and makes predications...

Issue 29, July 22, 2008

• What makes the best hospital?

  U.S. News & World Report this month profiled one of the nation’s top hospitals...

• Joint Commission answers FAQs on 2008 National Patient Safety Goals

  Following last month’s release of the 2009 National Patient Safety Goals, the Joint...

• Are hospitalists good or bad for inpatient care?

  Last month, the Archives of Internal Medicine featured articles by two doctors about whether or not...

Issue 28, July 15, 2008

• Tip: Design a bonus plan for hospitalist recruitment

  Most hospital medicine programs provide a bonus plan for their physicians in order to motivate and...

• Top four case studies influencing hospitalists

  In a feature article, Today’s Hospitalist magazine named the top four case studies that...

• Majority of patients lack comprehension of ED diagnosis or post-care

  Most ED patients do no understand at least one part of the emergency department (ED) diagnosis or...

Issue 27, July 8, 2008

• The role of the hospitalist at academic institutions

  As hospitalists continue to provide patient care for community and academic hospitals, many wonder...

• The 24/7 hospitalist debate

  When it comes to overnight patient care, many debate the pros and cons of employing a 24/7...

• Bringing business people in-house

  Adam Singer, MD, CEO of the IPC The Hospitalist Company, suggests halting the outsourcing trend and...

Issue 26, July 1, 2008

• Improve in-hospital cardiac arrest survival

  There are currently 300,000 deaths each year resulting from cardiac arrest, says Benjamin Abella...

• Six steps to launching a hospitalist-run clinic business plan

  One unique patient care model is the hospitalist-run clinic, a model that requires the support of...

• Reevaluate travel time in the hospital

  The SSM St. Mary’s Health Center in Richmond Heights, St. Louis, like other hospitals, is...

Issue 25, June 24, 2008

• Alert: Joint Commission releases 2009 National Patient Safety Goals

  The Joint Commission (formerly JCAHO) announced its 2009 National Patient Safety Goals (NPSGs) last...

• Regularly evaluate hospitalists' performance

  Regular, individual performance reviews of hospitalists can improve the quality of patient care...

• Electronic prescribing vs. pen and pad

  Despite the benefits of electronic prescribing, the majority of doctors continue to prescribe drugs...

Issue 24, June 16, 2008

• Nighttime and weekend in-hospital cardiac arrest

  A study released by The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) finds a connection...

• Tip: Real estate and hospitalist recruitment

  An article in the July issue of Hospitalist Management Advisor, published by HCPro, Inc., discusses...

• How to cut down on ED delays

  A health blog post on The Wall Street Journal by Sarah Rubenstein outlines a plan to reduce...

Issue 23, June 10, 2008

• Hospitalist services for seniors

  An article in The Daily Star (NY) discusses the benefits of hospitalist programs for elder patients.

• Finding the best

  A Smart Business article profiles IPC The Hospitalist Co.’s Adam Singer and asks how he finds...

• Tips on utilizing hospitalist moonlighters

  Hospital administrators are not only having difficulty filling full-time hospitalist positions due...

• Tips on utilizing hospitalist moonlighters

  Hospital administrators are not only having difficulty filling full-time hospitalist positions due...

Issue 22, June 3, 2008

• Employ a hospitalist orientation program

  To prevent hospitalist turnover, consider developing an orientation program. An orientation program...

• Overnight shifts gain popularity

  A Wall Street Journal Health blog article states that hospitals are increasingly hiring...

• PM versus AM shifts: Discrepancy in care

  The New England Journal of Medicine released a perspective article by David J. Shulkin, MD...

Issue 21, May 27, 2008

• Six tips to ensure accurate coding

  Hospitalists know the pain of inconsistent coding all too well. It is crucial to comply with...

• Patients take charge of medical records with Google Health; HIPAA concerned

  Technology giant last week launched Google Health, a free service to store personal health records...

• Consumers rate hospitals online on CMS

  The government last week launched a nationwide advertising campaign to promote its Hospital Compare...

Issue 20, May 20, 2008

• Define your internal hospitalist policy with a manual

  Having a well-defined manual can bring together practice administrators, managers, and...

• Cut down on ED overcrowding

  The American College of Emergency Physicians (ACEP) last month released a report, “Emergency...

• Safety-net hospitals lag behind

  Safety-net hospitals that typically treat urban and underserved patients offer lower quality care...

Issue 19, May 13, 2008

• Real estate downturn hurts physician recruitment

  The struggling real estate market is impacting physician recruitment, according to a recent study...

• Seeing too many docs lead to longer hospital stay

  Patients who see multiple hospital physicians may have longer stays, according to a recent study...

• Creating a palliative care team

  Hospitalists are increasingly taking a role in palliative care to provide medical treatment and...

Issue 18, May 6, 2008

• Hospitalist work lures the young

  According to an April 29 article in The Wall Street Journal, “As Doctors Get a Life, Strains...

• Moonlighting: Nighttime hospitalist shifts

  An article in the April issue of Today’s Hospitalist, “Is moonlighting right for...

• Measuring operational effectiveness

  There are varied metrics to evaluate the performance of a hospitalist program. One way...

Issue 17, April 29, 2008

• Discharge times: Hotel or hospital?

  A March 26 Watcher’s World blog, written by Bob Watcher, MD, on behalf of the Society of...

• Should docs display emotions at the bedside?

  An April 22 New York Times article attempts to answer a question as old as the practice of...

• Hospitalist Q&A: How should hospitalists deal with imaging and laboratory results that are returned after a patient is discharged?

  We are having difficulty following up on laboratory and medical imaging results that are returned...

Issue 16, April 22, 2008

• Hospitalists: Tune up your presentation skills

  An article in the April issue of The Hospitalist, published by the Society of Hospital Medicine...

• AZ hospital posting ED wait times on Web site

  Scottsdale Healthcare is now posting ED wait times for its three hospitals on its home page...

• Through the patients' eyes: using the patient experience to improve care

  It is difficult for physicians to focus on each patient as an individual amidst the interruptions...

Issue 15, April 15, 2008

• Hospitalists' role: A formal introduction key to educating patients

  An article in the April issue of Today’s Hospitalist highlights that patients...

• SHM releases results of the State of the Hospital Medicine Movement survey

  The average hospitalist sees more than 2,400 patients and is compensated $193,000 per year. See...

• Society of Hospital Medicine creates hospital medicine fellowship

  For those hospitalists that have been itching to put more acronyms after their names, SHM has...

Issue 14, April 8, 2008

• Patients hesitant to ask questions

  An April 3 article in The New York Times analyzes a study conducted by British researchers that...

• Hospitalists learn to treat addicted patients

  An article in the March issue of Today’s Hospitalist looks at how several...

• Keep hospitalist job descriptions up to date

  Today’s rapidly changing healthcare environment mandates that job descriptions and on-the-job...

Issue 13, April 1, 2008

• Iowa Healthcare Collaborative issues medication cards to improve medication safety

  The Iowa Healthcare Collaborative (IHC) recently issued a card that may help improve communication...

• Physicians to receive drug notices via e-mail

  Video clips of your niece's dance recital make their way into your Inbox the next day but critical...

• Taking charge: Data mapping ED call

  To find a hospital not struggling with ED call is to find the proverbial needle in a haystack-if...

Issue 12, March 25, 2008

• Screening patients for MRSA ineffective for preventing infection

  Earlier this month, a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that screening...

• Unit-based assignments may make life easier for hospitalists

  An article in the March issue of Today's Hospitalist highlights Mesa, AZ-based Banner Baywood...

• What are the primary employment options for hospitalists?

  Although numerous employment options exist for hospitalists, most fall into three employment...

Issue 11, March 18, 2008

• Nurse accused of spreading hepatitis C

  A nurse at a Texas military hospital has given hospitalists and other healthcare workers all the...

• Massachusetts plans to ban gifts from pharmaceutical industry

  Therese Murray, senate president, proposed a ban on all gifts from the pharmaceutical industry to...

• HCPro, Inc. launches new logo and tagline

  HCPro, Inc. is launching a new corporate branding campaign designed to reflect the company’s...

Issue 10, March 11, 2008

• Online portal now available to help physicians adopt e-prescribing

  On March 4, five of the leading physician groups in the United States launched an online portal...

• PA doctors and lawyers working together to keep claims out of court

  According to The Philadelphia Inquirer, Montgomery County's bar association, medical society, and...

• Achieving work-life balance for women in healthcare

  Quint Studer, a thought leader in the healthcare industry and author of Hardwiring Excellence and...

Issue 9, March 5, 2008

• More senior citizens visiting the ED than ever before

  Between 1993 and 2003, the number of senior citizens visiting emergency departments (ED) rose...

• Study concludes that hospitalists reduce length of patient stays

  A recent study published by the New England Journal of Medicine reports that, on average...

• CA hospital under investigation for wrong-site surgery

  The Los Angeles Times reports that the state of California is investigating a wrong-site surgery...

Issue 8, February 26, 2008

• Hospitalists demanding part-time schedules

  An article published in the December 2007 issue of Today's Hospitalist reports that offering...

• Government clears catheter checklists

  The Office for Human Research Protections (OHRP), part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human...

• Arming patients with the right questions

  The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality is urging patients to play a greater role in their...

Issue 7, February 20, 2008

• Number of primary care physicians on the decline

  The number of American medical students interested in primary care is declining. The current number...

• Video encourages better communication

  The Joint Commission's recent adoption of the six core competencies has renewed providers' focus on...

• Editor's pick: Coverage models

  When customizing your hospitalist program schedule, carefully consider the pros and cons of the...

Issue 6, February 6, 2008

• Washington state acts to solve hospital staffing crisis

  Union leaders and heads of the Washington Hospital Association have come to an agreement to...

• St. Louis hospital will no longer directly employ ER physicians

  In an effort to increase patient flow, the leadership at St. Anthony’s Medical Center in St...

• Premier: P4P could save 70,000 lives per year

  If all U.S. hospitals were to achieve the three-year cost and mortality improvements found among...

Issue 5, January 29, 2008

• The Joint Commission releases potential 2009 NPSGs for review

  The proposed 2009 National Patient Safety Goals and new Implementation Expectations have been...

• Key features of physician referral systems

  Securing referrals is increasingly important to physicians in all specialties. In the January 14...

• PA hospitals target preventable errors

  The Pennsylvania Department of Public Welfare (DPW) has issued a new policy stating that hospitals...

Issue 1, January 10, 2008

• ED painkillers prescribed less frequently to minorities

  Emergency department (ED) doctors are less likely to provide more powerful narcotics to minorities...

• What's keeping hospitals from early discharges?

  According to Bud Pate, REHS, practice director for The Greeley Company, a division of HCPro, Inc...

• Find the appropriate level of care for extended LOS patients

  Case managers have to continually learn, maintain, and update a large body of knowledge and skill...

Issue 49, December 9, 2008

• HHS creates the first ever quality measures clearinghouse

  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) last month announced the first quality measure...

Issue 4, October 21, 2008

• Strategies to developing hospitalist leaders

  As the ranks of hospital medicine continue to swell, the need for leadership development is...