“If each pediatric hospitalist set strategic initiatives for their own group or hospital, chances are they would find remarkable similarity between what they came up with and what the strategic planning roundtable came up with,” says Dr. Shen, who is directing one of the quality and safety workgroup’s initiatives. “There are plenty of ways to think globally and act locally.” TH
Lisa Ryan is a freelance writer based in New Jersey.
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A Closer Look at the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Initiatives
Four workgroups emerged from the Pediatric Hospital Medicine Strategic Planning Roundtable in February. Each group was charged with directing strategic initiative projects over the next 16 to 18 months. The mission is to transform the delivery of hospital care for children. Here is a synopsis of the workgroup initiatives, some of which have estimated completion dates:
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Clinical Practice/Workforce
- Create a PHM position paper that defines what it means to be a pediatric hospitalist and where the field is headed. A progress report is to be published within the next few months.
- Create a clinical practice dashboard template that PHM programs can use to monitor patient care and eventually compare their program with other programs and national standards. The template will include such markers as patient readmissions and pediatric rapid response events that PHM programs should measure and track. The first version of the dashboard template should be ready by the end of 2009; test sites are to be selected by 2010.
- Develop a “return on investment” document to help pediatric hospitalists effectively discuss with hospital administrators and other stakeholders the benefits of adding or expanding PHM programs. Target deadline: February 2010.
- Assess career satisfaction among pediatric hospitalists. A large part of this initiative will involve SHM’s career satisfaction survey.
Quality and Safety
- Launch a safety project involving six to eight hospitals that is aimed at improving pediatric patient identification. Preliminary results are expected by July 2010.
- Develop a standardized communications tool that pediatric hospitalists can use when handing off patients to primary-care physicians after patients leave the hospital.
- Create a benchmarking process for the most common pediatric inpatient diagnoses (e.g., bronchiolitis, skin infections, and pneumonia) by expanding the Value in Inpatient Pediatrics (VIP) Network, a pediatric-hospitalist-led effort to find cost-effective ways to treat patients.
Research
- Restructure the existing Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network, an independent entity founded through a joint SHM-AAP-APA effort, to better advance research on issues important to pediatric care.
- Secure funding to conduct studies relevant to inpatient pediatrics. Tap into American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding for comparative effectiveness research. Target deadline: ARRA proposals by fall 2009.
- Create a mentorship system to connect pediatric hospitalists who are interested in research with PHM researchers through the AAP listserv.
Education
- Develop an educational plan supporting PHM core competencies to assist medical schools, post-graduate training programs, and continuing medical education programs in PHM teaching. The core competencies should be released by the end of the year.
- Meet the needs of PHM educators by focusing efforts on topics of interest to them, such as family-centered rounds, night float curriculum, and handoffs. Establish a repository of curriculum information that educators can access for guidance.