The Hospitalist’s editorial board members are making plans for SHM Converge 2025. Here they share some of the sessions they’re looking forward to.
Nkemdilim Mgbojikwe, MD, SFHM
Associate professor of the department of medicine and associate chief medical officer, at Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia
Dr. Mgbokikwe
I am always excited for Converge as it’s a two for the price of one for me—getting to reconnect with friends across the country and having a rich educational experience! As I look at the agenda there are so many exciting talks and workshops, I am excited about several, so I will highlight two here for brevity. Interhospital Transfers Beyond the Basics: Integrated Command Centers, Tackling Capacity Challenges, and Waitlists promises to be interesting, as capacity and interhospital-transfer challenges impact a wide array of folks, [including] frontline hospitalists, operational leaders, patient care experience, legal, hospital leaders, and much more. In my role as a hospitalist and as the associate chief medical officer, this is right up my alley, and I am always interested to hear how others are creatively approaching these issues. I am also excited about the Update in Hospital Medicine talk as well, which has been a great way to get abreast of high-impact publications in an abbreviated, digestible way.
Lucy Shi, MD
Adult hospitalist, assistant clinical professor, and director of student-run clinics at UC Davis Health in Sacramento, Calif.
Dr. Shi
I’m excited about a lot of sessions this year. Each day is packed with interesting topics covering practical updates for your clinical practice, how to navigate career advancement, and best practices for building sustainable hospital medicine services. I’m looking forward to checking out Dr. Massart’s session Winning Big in MedEd: Best Practices for Optimizing Bedside Rounds for Patients and Learners. I’m a big proponent of bedside rounding, but still trying to refine and improve my teaching. After residency, we don’t usually get a chance to see our peers’ rounding styles and I’m interested to learn some new tips to incorporate into my practice.
Another session to check out for some career inspiration is Stories from the Journey: 2024 Research & Innovation Finalists jointly hosted by the Academic Committee and Research Committee. The session will highlight innovative work and research, specifically focused on the journey and how projects can play a role in career development. I sometimes struggle with visualizing where my career might end up and how current projects could fit in, especially as my interests evolve. I hope some of these journeys will resonate and help me appreciate the unexpected turns along the way.
You’ll also find me at Physical Diagnosis Potpourri with Dr. Mansoor. You may recognize Dr. Mansoor as the author of the highly rated textbook, Frameworks for Internal Medicine. He was one of my favorite attendings in residency and every time I’m on service, I still use what he taught me about physical diagnosis. I’m eager to learn some new pearls from this session to keep improving my bedside clinical diagnosis skills.
Mihir H. Patel, MD, MPH, MBA, CLHM, FACP, SFHM
Chair of the inpatient clinical informatics council, medical director of virtual medicine, and hospitalist at Ballad Health System in Johnson City, Tenn.
Dr. Patel
As a senior hospitalist with a strong interest in the digital transformation of healthcare, I am highly engaged in leveraging technology to enhance patient care and streamline operational workflows. Serving as the director of virtual medicine and chair of clinical informatics at Ballad Health, I am particularly drawn to the following sessions at SHM Converge 2025, which address critical topics in hospital medicine.
The session Interhospital Transfers Beyond the Basics: Integrated Command Centers, Tackling Capacity Challenges, and Waitlists. focuses on optimizing interhospital transfers. Effective transfer management is crucial for timely and appropriate care while addressing capacity challenges and throughput pressures. Topics like integrated command centers, enhanced workflows, and automation are highly relevant in improving the efficiency and quality of care during patient transitions. The importance of clear communication between transferring and receiving facilities and the role of dedicated physicians in the transfer process is pivotal for success. Understanding how other health systems have implemented these strategies can provide actionable insights for improving operational efficiency and patient outcomes.
The session Gambling on the Virtual Unit – It’s Not Just Craps aligns closely with my expertise and interest in virtual medicine. The hospital at home and virtual care models represent a significant shift toward patient-centered healthcare, enabling treatment in home settings while improving satisfaction and outcomes. These models also present opportunities to integrate innovative technology that enhances workflows and reduces operational inefficiencies. Moreover, virtual care supports a scalable approach to addressing patient needs, ensuring quality care even in resource-constrained environments.
These sessions are particularly relevant to my role and interests, addressing key challenges and opportunities in modern hospital medicine and digital healthcare innovation.
Elizabeth Herrle MD, FACP, FHM
Assistant professor of medicine at Tufts University School of Medicine in Boston, associate medical director for professional development, division of hospital medicine at Maine Medical Center, and medical director of clinical informatics at MaineHealth, both in Portland, Maine
Dr. Herrle
While you can’t judge a book by its cover, I like to hope that sometimes you can judge a talk by its title. As I perused the amazing list of upcoming talks at SHM Converge 2025, one title made me feel like I was standing just a bit too close to the speakers. So don’t be surprised if you find me elbowing my way to the front row to see Dr. Christopher Moriates present his talk Subverting Systems to Build Trust: An Alt-Rock Approach for Hospitalists. One of my favorite things about SHM Converge is the opportunity to hear how our colleagues in hospital medicine are challenging conventions and breaking new ground in the service of our patients’ health and wellbeing. Dr. Moriates is a national leader in healthcare quality, cost, and value who has been at the forefront of addressing the pressing challenges of our healthcare system through his work with initiatives like the [US Choosing Wisely] STARS program. He knows the system. And I’m excited to hear his perspective on how subversion of existing systems can lead to better care of our patients. As an added bonus, I’m assuming there will be a steady stream of nostalgic alt-rock references to enjoy throughout the session. I hope that when we leave Dr. Moriates’ session, our ears will be ringing for a while – a persistent reminder that if the system doesn’t support our patients – it’s not a system worth supporting. See you at Converge!
Andrea Hadley, MD, FAAP, FHM
Dr. Hadley
Assistant professor of internal medicine and pediatrics at Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and chief of pediatric hospital medicine at Helen DeVos Children’s Hospital of Corewell Health, both in Grand Rapids, Mich.
I am excited about Updates in Health Policy. Given the current political climate, it will be imperative for us to stay up to date on the public health impacts of the current administration so we can best advocate for our patients.
Anika Kumar, MD, FAAP, FHM
Dr. Kumar
Clinical assistant professor of pediatrics at Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, pediatric hospitalist at Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital in Ohio, and pediatric editor of The Hospitalist.
There are so many great sessions at Converge in 2025, that it’s hard to choose what to attend. As the pediatrics editor of The Hospitalist, I am especially excited for the Pediatric Update—Top 10 Articles and Things We Do for No Reason in Pediatrics. I am also excited for Trans-forming Your Care: A Hospitalist’s Guide to Transgender Health Across the Lifespan from Child to Adult and Business Updates for the Hospitalist: The Top Business Articles of 2024 That Will Change the Way You Lead, Do Your Job, and Practice Medicine.
Arunab Mehta, MD, MEd, FHM
Vice-chair of inpatient clinical affairs, medical director, and assistant professor of medicine in the clinical core faculty for program valuation and improvement at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center in Cincinnati.
Dr. Mehta
I am absolutely thrilled for SHM Converge this year, and not just because it’s in Las Vegas (though let’s be honest, that’s a huge plus!). The talks look absolutely scintillating. While the annual Things We Do For No Reason is always a safe winner, I am particularly excited about attending a talk on evidence-based methods for managing delirium with the cheekily titled TADA, No Magic Tricks Required!: Evidenced-Based Delirium Management for Hospitalists.
I’d also love to learn about operations in the talk Smoothing Operations: Hospitalists as Operational Leaders. because who doesn’t want a ton of tools to use in their personal practice? And let’s not forget the talk Generative Artificial Intelligence for Hospital Medicine—a very timely topic given the current AI craze. I wonder if they’ll side with DeepSeek or ChatGPT for that one.
What the Presenters Want You to Get from Their Presentations
SHM Converge 2025 is packed with sessions covering the latest research, best practices, and newest innovations in the field. We asked a few presenters what they hope you’ll get out of their sessions. Here’s what they had to say:
Jackpot! Winning Strategies for GI Care for the Hospitalist is presented by Benjamin Verplanke, MD, FHM, section chief of hospital medicine at NYU Langone Health and a clinical assistant professor in the department of medicine at NYU Grossman School of Medicine, both in New York.
I’m really hoping the attendees come out of my lecture with a better understanding of subtle but valuable updates in the management of acute pancreatitis, the basics of treatment of ulcerative colitis, and some GI-related side effects of medications. Similarly to last year, there will also be some random GI-related fun facts as well!
No Addiction Medicine Service? Things You Need to Know to Care for Patients with Substance Use Disorders is presented by Anna-Maria South, MD, assistant professor of medicine, academic hospitalist, and attending physician on the addiction consult and education service at the University of Kentucky College of Medicine in Lexington, Ky., and Keri Holmes-Maybank, MD, SFHM, academic hospitalist and associate professor of medicine at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, S.C.
It is estimated that 11% of hospitalizations are related to substance use disorders (SUD) or substance-related complications. These percentages continue to increase yearly as do the deaths related to SUD. Treating patients with SUD, such as starting buprenorphine for opioid use disorder, is essential to keep patients engaged in care and to reduce morbidity and mortality. Treatment has become more complicated with the illicit substances in our communities such as illicit fentanyl and xylazine. The mortality from alcohol-related complications continues to climb, highlighting the importance of starting medication for alcohol use disorder in hospitalized patients.
We’re hospitalists who are also addiction medicine certified and appreciate the challenges that non-addiction medicine-trained hospitalists face. We hope this session will provide practical information including medication and dosing on hot topics including initiation of buprenorphine in patients who use illicit fentanyl or substances adulterated with illicit fentanyl including low-dose buprenorphine initiation (micro-dosing); management of buprenorphine precipitated withdrawal; approach to the patient who uses xylazine adulterated substances; treatment of alcohol withdrawal with phenobarbital in non-intensive care unit patients; initiation of treatment for alcohol use disorder in hospitalized patients; and harm reduction strategies for the hospitalized patient with substance use disorder. Our goal is to increase knowledge and comfort in initiating these treatments for hospitalists who do not have access to an addiction medicine consult team. Come with questions and get answers from experts in addiction medicine and hospital medicine. We look forward to seeing everyone at Converge!
Getting Paid for What You Do: Documentation & Billing for the Hospitalist is presented by Samuel Lipten, MD, a hospitalist at Pennsylvania Hospital and a clinical assistant professor of medicine at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, both in Philadelphia.
I hope to empower individual hospitalists and group leaders to feel more confident about documentation, billing, and coding. We receive minimal formal education on these topics and what does exist usually comes from non-clinicians. I admit that I used to snooze through the required billing talks. However, I became more invested once I learned how I could make my documentation more streamlined and increase revenue for my group with a few simple changes, and I am excited to share that perspective with the attendees at SHM.
Subverting Systems to Build Trust: An Alt-Rock Approach for Hospitalists is presented by Christopher Moriates, MD, SFHM, chief of hospital medicine in the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System and professor of clinical medicine at UCLA, both in Los Angeles.
For my session, I am hoping that hospitalists will leave with a sense of hope and agency for our future as we discuss everyday ways that we can reconnect with our patients, develop trust, and deliver meaningful care. I hope to inspire more “punk rock moments” where hospitalists (appropriately) break the rules to deliver on our oath to best care for patients. I hope participants will reconnect with the music of a more rebellious past and add their own favorites to my “Subverting Systems” playlist (click here to enjoy Dr. Moriates’ Spotify playlist).
Peering Into a Crystal Ball: Leveraging EMR Tools to Predict Clinical Deterioration and How to Intervene is presented by Jessica Nave, MD, FHM, vice president of CDI, coding and revenue integrity of Emory Healthcare, and hospitalist and assistant professor of medicine at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta.
I hope people will walk away with an understanding of some of the technology tools that can be leveraged to help us predict and identify patients who are at serious risk of decompensating. As busy hospitalists, we need a triage system that helps focus our attention on the critical patients.