Getting involved—and getting ahead—in hospital medicine has never been easier, with just some planning and preparation. Here are three ways to move your hospital—and your career—forward this month.
1. Add “award-winning” to your CV: SHM’s Awards of Excellence deadline is Sept. 16.
Although 2013’s award-winners are still fresh in hospitalists’ minds, now is the time to put together award applications for the 2014 Awards of Excellence.
Each year, SHM presents six different awards that recognize individuals and one award to a team that is transforming health care and revolutionizing patient care for hospitalized patients:
- Excellence in Research Award;
- Excellence in Hospital Medicine for Non-Physicians;
- Award for Excellence in Teaching;
- Award for Outstanding Service in Hospital Medicine;
- Award for Clinical Excellence; and
- Excellence in Teamwork in Quality Improvement.
Last year, SHM received award nominations from a diverse group of hospitalists and looks forward to receiving even more this year. Each winner receives an all-expenses-paid trip to HM14 in Las Vegas, including complimentary meeting registration.
The deadline for applications for SHM’s five individual awards is Sept. 16. The deadline for the Excellence in Teamwork in Quality Improvement is Oct. 15. All SHM members are eligible, and nominees can be self-nominated.
For more information, visit www.hospital medicine.org/awards.
2. Bring the experts in reducing readmissions to your hospital: Apply now for Project BOOST.
There is still time to apply for SHM’s Project BOOST, which helps hospitals design discharge programs to reduce readmissions. SHM will accept applications for Project BOOST until the end of August.
Project BOOST is based on SHM’s award-winning mentored implementation model that brings individualized attention from national experts in reducing readmissions to hospitals across the country. Each Project BOOST site receives:
- A comprehensive intervention developed by a panel of nationally recognized experts based on the best available evidence.
- A comprehensive implementation guide that provides step-by-step instructions and project-management tools, such as the teachback training curriculum, to help interdisciplinary teams redesign workflow and plan, implement, and evaluate the intervention.
- Longitudinal technical assistance providing face-to-face training and a year of expert mentoring and coaching to implement BOOST interventions that build a culture that supports safe and complete transitions. The mentoring program provides a training DVD and curriculum for nurses and case managers on using the teachback process, as well as webinars that target the educational needs of other team members, including administrators, data analysts, physicians, nurses, and others.
- Collaboration that allows sites to communicate with and learn from each other via the BOOST community site and quarterly all-site teleconferences and webinars.
- The BOOST data center, an online resource that allows sites to store and benchmark data against control units and other sites and generates reports.
For more information, visit www.hospital medicine.org/boost.
3. Start Choosing Wisely today.
In 2014, as part of a grant from the ABIM Foundation, SHM will begin its first Choosing Wisely case-study competition to highlight hospitalists’ best practices within the popular campaign.
But in order to have a successful case study next year, some preparation is in order now. Developing goals, gathering a team, and, perhaps most important, developing benchmarking data on a project motivated by Choosing Wisely will all be important parts of a compelling case study.
To start brainstorming your project to implement Choosing Wisely recommendations at your hospital, visit www.hospitalmedicine.org/choosingwisely.
Brendon Shank is SHM’s associate vice president of communications.
