• 1
    Opinion

    Concerns Grow as Top Clinicians Choose Nonclinical Roles

    December 22, 2015

    On a spring day a couple of years ago, I met with some internal medicine residents in a “Healthcare Systems Immersion” elective.

  • 1
    Opinion

    Early Mobility Program

    November 30, 2015

    “I didn’t get out of bed for 10 days” —Anonymous patient admitted to a skilled nursing facility post-hospitalization for a COPD exacerbation Readmission penalties, “Medicare spending per beneficiary” under value-based purchasing, and the move to accountable care are propelling hospitalists to do

  • 1
    Opinion

    Poor Continuity of Patient Care Increases Work for Hospitalist Groups

    November 30, 2015

    [caption id="attachment_12166" align="alignright" width="295"] Image Credit: ILLUSTRATION/PAUL JUESTRICH; PHOTOs shutterstock.com[/caption] I think every hospitalist group should diligently try to maximize hospitalist-patient continuity, but many seem to adopt schedules and other operational prac

  • 1
    Opinion

    Eliminations Hospitalist Groups Should Consider

    November 4, 2015

    [caption id="attachment_11771" align="alignright" width="295"] Image Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM[/caption] Editor’s note: Second in a continuing series of articles exploring ways hospitalist groups can cut back. In last month’s column, I made the case that most hospitalist groups should think abo

  • 1
    Opinion

    Empathy, Patients, and Caregivers

    October 5, 2015

    Empathy—the feeling that you understand and share another person’s experiences and emotions: the ability to share someone else’s feelings. —Merriam-Webster By the time I became a third-year medical resident, I had mastered the repertoire of “don’t tread on me” behaviors that seemed essential to

  • 1
    Opinion

    Hospital Groups Might Do Better Without Daytime Admission Shifts, Morning Meetings

    October 5, 2015

    [caption id="attachment_11415" align="alignright" width="295"] Image Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK.COM[/caption] You shouldn’t maintain things that do not deliver the value you anticipated when you first put them in place.

  • 1
    Opinion

    Why Hospitalist Morale is Declining and Ways to Improve It

    September 2, 2015

    [caption id="attachment_11094" align="alignright" width="250"] Some hospitals have begun to resist providing more support, and this translates into stress and lower morale for hospitalists.

  • 1
    Opinion

    The Three-Year Plan

    July 29, 2015

    Although 2019 may seem like a long way away, it isn’t too soon to start thinking about and preparing for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or its (seemingly preferable) alternative, participation in an alternative payment model (APM) such as an ACO, a medical home, or a bundled payment

  • 1
    Opinion

    Tips for Hospitalists on Spending More of Their Time at the Top of Their License

    July 29, 2015

    [caption id="attachment_10717" align="alignright" width="250"] Image Credit: SHUTTERSTOCK.COMI think arranging post-hospital appointments should be no more difficult for the hospitalist than ordering a CBC.[/caption] Hospitalists spend too little time working at the top of their license.

  • 1
    Opinion

    Hospital Medicine’s Old Practices Become New Again

    July 6, 2015

    The musty collections of National Geographic magazines once found in so many basements are largely gone. Replacing them are dusty sets of the Advisory Board binders and booklets found in hospital administration offices around the country.