At Work in Washington

Chapter Updates

New Jersey

The New Jersey Chapter had its bi-annual meeting Sept. 18 at the Grand Summit Hotel in Summit. Twenty-one SHM members representing seven hospital medicine groups attended the meeting. Donnet Brown, MSN, MBA, WCC, and Alan Levin, MSN, MBA, CPHQ, gave presentations in patient safety and the first domain of quality healthcare. The meeting was sponsored by Ortho-McNeil.

Lake Erie

The Lake Erie Chapter meeting was Aug. 20 at the Mallorca Restaurant in Cleveland. Fourteen SHM members representing four HM groups attended. Christian Nasr, MD, endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, gave a presentation on inpatient management of diabetes. The evidence-based presentation was followed by lively discussion from the attendees. The meeting was sponsored by sanofi-aventis US, LLC.

Charlotte, N.C.

The Charlotte Chapter’s Sept. 25 meeting was entitled: “SHM Web-Based Resources: Tools to Improve the Quality Gap in Heart Failure.” The meeting, at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Charlotte, was attended by nine SHM members from six HM groups. Nurcan Ilksoy, MD, hospitalist at Wellstar Windy Hill Hospital, Marietta, Ga., gave the heart failure presentation, which included new clinical information and a review of the basic information on the subject. SCIOS, Inc. sponsored the meeting.

Indiana

The Indiana Chapter’s Aug. 20 meeting took place at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Indianapolis. Twenty SHM members representing eight HM groups learned about “Billing, Coding, and Documentation of Consultations/Co-management of Patients” from Robin Stickney, MD, JD, a senior consultant with St. Vincent Health, a division of Ascension Health, in Indianapolis. UCB Pharmaceuticals sponsored the meeting.

Chicago

The Chicago Chapter met Oct. 29 at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Chicago. The guest speaker was Tamara Vokes, MD, associate professor of medicine, the Department of Endocrinology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Vokes made a presentation and led discussion on “The Treatment of Osteoporosis.”

Election results were announced and the new chapter officers are: Ana Nowell, MD, president, hospitalist at Advocate Health Centers; Joanna Maurice, MD, University of Illinois-Chicago, vice-president; Aziz Ansari, DO, hospitalist and assistant program director at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, secretary.

Dr. Nowell thanked the outgoing officers for their tremendous efforts and announced plans for 2009. Nearly 50 hospitalists attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Novartis.

Nashville/Middle Tennessee

The Nashville/Middle Tennessee Chapter met Sept. 11 at Morton’s Steakhouse in Nashville. Twenty-six attendees participated in a question-and-answer presentation on “Hospital-Inquired Infections: Diagnosis and Treatment Considerations for the Hospitalist” by Michael Gelfand, MD, FACP, professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. The meeting was sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals.