Research
At last year’s annual meeting I shared with you my vision for research in hospital medicine and the role of SHM in research. Last month I further outlined my ideas. With a new journal and the largest number of submissions to our research, innovations and vignettes competition ever, we are well on our way to taking a leading role in research in hospital medicine.
Research projects directly sponsored by SHM include a demonstration project evaluating interventions to improve care of patients with heart failure, a planned survey of hospitalist involvement in managing heart failure in the emergency department and observation units, and a project to develop and evaluate a toolkit to support discharge planning for elders. Stay tuned for more projects in this area and please apply when we send out a call for applications.
Palliative Care
As you probably know by now, palliative care is near and dear to my heart. Hospital medicine can fulfill the promise of compassionate care for people with serious and life-threatening illness and ensure that all patients have access to high quality palliative care. The palliative care task force that I appointed under the leadership of Chad Whelan, MD, has shown enormous energy and enthusiasm. The task force is planning a resource room and a series of articles about palliative care for JHM.
In addition, the task force is sponsoring two sessions at this year’s annual meeting: Pain Management (Thurs., May 4 from 1:20-2:35 p.m.) and The Basic “Why” and “How” to Develop a Hospital-Based Palliative Care Program (Fri., May 5 from 1:35 to 3:05 p.m.). I encourage you to attend one or both. From the flurry of activity already generated by the palliative care task force, I know that we will see much more relating to palliative care. As a core competency for hospital medicine, palliative care is central to our work. As a compassionate response to the suffering of our patients, it is one of the most rewarding parts of practicing medicine.
All in Service of Caring for the Patient
With all the exciting initiatives happening at SHM, we must never lose sight of why all this activity is important. Ultimately all of this work comes down to caring for our patients. At our core, hospitalists and hospital medicine are about providing the highest quality care to hospitalized patients. Our educational programs, journal, quality projects, policy initiatives, research, and palliative care task force as well as the many other important programs at SHM are all in service of caring for the patient. All that we do to improve the care of patients improves us, our field, and our society.
In the end, as a field, as an organization, and as individual hospitalists, we will be judged by whether our work improved the care of our patients. From my front row seat, I am confident that we will be judged a success because I see firsthand all of the great work being done around the country and within SHM to advance this goal.
It has been a supreme privilege to serve as president of this outstanding organization and to get to know so many of you who make it what it is. I offer my deep gratitude to everyone who has made this past year so great. With all that we have accomplished, there is still much more to do. If you are not yet a member of SHM, join. If you are a member of SHM, get involved. Help shape our growing field. Help make care better, safer, and more compassionate for our patients. This rocket is still gaining speed—join the ride. TH