Dr. Smith is president of the Southeastern Wisconsin chapter of SHM, and is a member of SHM’s Physician in Training Committee, for which she promotes hospital medicine as a career.
Undergraduate education: University of Wisconsin at La Crosse.
Medical school: Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee.
Notable: Dr. Smith has increased her hospital’s patient satisfaction levels to the 90th percentile from the 60th percentile by creating a program that keeps patients’ family members informed daily about their condition. She says the hardest part of keeping patients happy is bonding with them and building a rapport in a short amount of time; only after bonding with patients will they be aware of hospitalists as physicians. Dr. Smith also is a Six Sigma black belt.
FYI: When she was growing up, she wanted to be a Dallas Cowboys cheerleader. Today, she enjoys dance and gymnastics with her children. Dr. Smith is looking forward to receiving her MBA, which she plans to use to help fix parts of the healthcare system in a time of change.
Quotable: “To me, being an SHM fellow means a validation of the years of commitment I have to quality patient care, not only of the individual patient, but of the way we deliver healthcare as a society. I am honored to be an SHM Senior Fellow and privileged to be part of a group of hospitalists truly committed to providing quality patient care, lifelong learning, and improving the ways we deliver care.”