I have been a hospitalist for eight years but joined SHM two and a half years ago at the encouragement of my sister, a hospitalist program director in New York. I am the chief of staff and have been the sole hospitalist at a rural Texas hospital since April of this year, as the other hospitalist was let go. I decided to be the only hospitalist for a while so that I would be able to take the responsibility on myself to improve core measures, decrease readmissions, etc. Quite honestly, it had been a challenge getting our core measures up, per CMS requirements, for a number of reasons (physicians, staff, etc.)
Through all that I have learned from SHM over the past two and a half years, I am pleased to report that we were the only hospital in a 100-mile radius to be at the 99th percentile on our Press Ganey scores and HCAPS. As a matter of fact, we scored 14th in the state of Texas.
It took a lot of dedication on all of our parts, including the RNs, MDs, and other hospital staff to make it happen, but we were determined to provide the quality of care our patients deserve—and we did it.
Thank you, SHM, for your leadership in striving for excellence!
I. Upendran, MD, chief of staff, East Texas Medical Center, Regional Healthcare System, Tyler, Texas