Just 15 years since the term “hospitalist” was first coined, hospital medicine and SHM are on the leading edge of unprecedented growth and influence within healthcare.
New data from the American Hospital Association estimate that there are now more than 34,000 hospitalists in service in hospitals throughout the country. And those hospitals quickly are becoming the front line in the transformation of healthcare.
Dr. Wiese at HM10.
The growth and influence of the specialty creates opportunities for hospitalists of all stripes and interests to develop professionally and exercise new leadership—inside their hospitals and throughout their communities.
Through new quality-improvement (QI) programs, online events, and face-to-face meetings, SHM is creating a platform for ambitious, patient-focused hospitalists to lead and collaborate.
“This is a new era of unprecedented opportunity for hospitalists,” says SHM president Jeff Wiese, MD, SFHM. “The demand for our skills is evident. Our numbers and credibility as a specialty continue to grow. And now, hospitalists have the tools to implement real change that will improve patient care and how it is delivered.”
But the scope of the HM movement shouldn’t deter hospitalists from taking the first step, Dr. Wiese says.
“It all starts with registering for the annual meeting for the first time, or applying for SHM’s Leadership Academy, or downloading the Project BOOST toolkit to reduce readmissions in your hospital, or attending an online webinar,” says Dr. Wiese.
For many hospitalists, that first step has led to additional opportunities for collaboration with leaders in the specialty, bringing new skill sets to their hospitals, and improving their careers.