The Hospitalist’s Editorial Board Members’ Must-attend SHM Converge 2023 Sessions
SHM Converge 2023 offers world-class education for hospitalists, led by award-winning faculty. Engage with your global hospitalist community March 26-29, 2023, in Austin, Texas.
With more than 150 learning and networking opportunities—ranging from sessions, workshops, advanced learning courses, and special interest forums—spread across two and a half days, there’s a lot to be excited about at this year’s annual meeting.
Members of The Hospitalist’s editorial board share some of their top picks for must-attend sessions.
Dr. Green
Amanda Green, MD, FACP, HMDC, CPPS, FHM, chief medical officer, Paris Regional Medical Center, Paris, Texas
Clinical updates are always favorite SHM sessions for me. Two updates in which I have particular interest include Dr. Dawn Sears’ session, “Updates in Gastroenterology,” March 29, 10:30 a.m. I’ve been entertained, educated, and impressed by her talks in the past—she is clear and engaging while covering gastrointestinal topics important and relevant to hospitalists. I’m also excited about Dr. Lillian Lien’s review of diabetes on March 27, 2:40 p.m. She’s a friend from Duke residency, she is covering a topic that applies to most of our admissions, and the title of the talk is fun—“Sweet Tea: Inpatient Diabetes Management.”
I’ll have a hard time deciding between the sessions dedicated to communication, utilization, quality, equity, and leadership. “Are You In or Out?: Demystifying Hospital Admission Status, Navigating Medical Necessity and Winning Insurance Peer-to-Peers,” March 29, 12:15 p.m. is very relevant and I’m interested in any good answers to the moving target of what insurances are calling an observation admission. The panels on workplace violence, anti-racism, and the transfer center are also directly relevant to my daily clinical and administrative work. This is one of the many times that I feel like I need a clone—in this case to send to more than one session at a time.
Dr. Kim
James Kim, MD, assistant professor of medicine, Emory University School of Medicine and Emory University Hospital, Atlanta
James Pile’s session “Monkeys and Bats and Bugs and Drugs: ID Update,” March 27, 10:10 a.m. I had the pleasure of working with Jim for the infectious disease precourse of SHM last year, and I’m sure that he can make a topic as disparate as monkeys, bats, and drugs engaging and relevant for hospitalists.
Annie Massart’s session “Breathless and Nauseated: The Symptom Management Primer We All Need,” March 28, 10:30 a.m. I’ve had the pleasure of working with Annie for several years and have heard this talk a few times. It’s all really applicable to the day-to-day management of patients and their comfort.
Ethan Cumbler’s session “Out of My Head: Delirium Updates,” March 29, 8:30 a.m. Delirium is a problem that all hospitalists have dealt with. Having heard Dr. Cumbler speak a few years ago, I’m sure this will have high-yield information and will be a fun show.
Dr. Puri
Isha Puri, MD, MPH, FHM, hospitalist, Texas Health Harris Methodist Hospital, Fort Worth, Texas
One of my favorite sessions is “High Reliability in Healthcare: From Zero-Harm to High-Value Care,” presented by Daniel Steinberg and Elham Yousef, March 29, 11:30 a.m. Health care is evolving from causing “no harm” to providing our patients with the best possible care. High-value care aims at improving overall quality of health care and reducing health care costs. The goal is to minimize waste and complications and improve patient outcomes and satisfaction.
Another session I am particularly interested in attending is “Great Debate: POCUS Versus the Physical Exam: The Volume Volume,” presented by Ria Dancel and Michael Janjigian, March 28, 4:30 p.m. POCUS can provide more detailed and specific information in some cases. Reviewing real-time images of a patient’s internal structures can provide valuable information. Having said that, ultimately the best approach depends on the situation and the provider’s assessment. This debate raises questions about the accuracy and efficacy of point-of-care ultrasound as compared to traditional physical examination while taking care of patients.
“Don’t Get L-Austin (Lost in) the Crowd: Faculty Development for Hospitalists” presented by Gopi Astik, Reena Hamrajani, Annie Massart, and Aditi Puri, March 28, 5:00 p.m. will be an interesting session as well. Faculty development includes important topics like medical education teaching, leadership development, and research mentoring. Faculty needs to stay up to date with evidence-based medicine to provide and teach high-value care.
Dr. Singh
Tanveer Singh, MD, MBBS, hospitalist, Cleveland Clinic, Cleveland
“Use of Machine Learning to Predict Patient Deterioration,” presented by Nidhi Goel and Mangla Gulati, March 27, at 10:10 a.m.
I’m looking forward to attending SHM Converge 2023. It’s full of exciting topics but I feel this particular topic is unique to Converge this time around. Machine learning is going to be the future, and I’m very excited about that. There have been multiple machine-learning models that are being developed and the application of this technology ranges from early detection of cancers, like in lung nodules, to early detection of biomarkers for sepsis, and so on. The machine-learning models are also being designed to facilitate early and safe patient discharge from the hospital. I am looking forward to learning from Drs. Goel and Gulati from the University of Maryland.
“Monkeys and Bats and Bugs and Drugs: ID Update”, presented by James Pile, March 27 at 10:10 a.m.
Infectious diseases are an essential part of the practice of hospital medicine. On any given day of my practice, there are at least three or four patients on my census who have infection as a primary reason for admission. As a hospitalist, my role ranges from starting empiric antibiotics on admission to deciding the dose, route, and duration of antibiotics at the time of discharge. Not only that, but the pandemic has also incorporated an equal role of multiple antivirals in our daily practice.
“Navigating Interhospital Transfers: Communicate and Triage for Success”, presented by Christopher Whinney, Andrew Dunn, Stephanie Mueller, and Jessica Dekhtyar, March 27 at 2:40 p.m.
As a hospitalist working in a tertiary care center, I routinely accept patient transfers from neighboring hospitals, freestanding emergency departments, and sometimes directly from physician offices. For a safe patient transfer, it’s critical to triage the patients appropriately and communicate clearly with the transferring physician and transfer center. There are plenty of things to keep in mind while accepting or rejecting the transfer and I am excited to attend this workshop.
“Immigrants in Hospital Medicine: Challenges and Success Stories”, presented by Manpreet Malik, Benji Mathews, and Rachel Thompson, March 27 at 11:10 a.m.
As an immigrant myself, I’ve faced multiple challenges throughout my career. Getting used to a new culture, moving away from family, and dealing with visa issues are common themes for all immigrant physicians. Personally, my biggest challenge was worrying about the health and safety of family members back home during the pandemic.
During residency and while working as a hospitalist I’ve worked with colleagues from all over the world and I have really enjoyed learning about other cultures. Also, I was immensely supported by my coworkers and friends during difficult times thus I am elated to see this topic presented at Converge 2023.
“Making Choices: Hematologic Stewardship for Hospitalists”, presented by Moises Auron, March 29 at 11:30 a.m.
We’re facing a national blood crisis due to a shortage of blood products and hematologic stewardship is critical in this environment. The pandemic-related shortage of blood products is still going on. As hospitalists, we need to use blood products judiciously, especially when there’s a critical nationwide shortage. Learning about the latest guidelines related to blood product transfusion and alternatives to blood transfusion is why I will be attending this session.
Dr. Kumar
Anika Kumar, MD, clinical assistant professor of pediatrics, Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University, pediatric hospitalist, Cleveland Clinic Children’s Hospital, pediatric editor of The Hospitalist
During the 2023 Converge Meeting in Austin, I am most looking forward to three sessions.
“High-Value Care/Things We Do For No Reason”, presented by Vivian Lee, March 28, 11:30 a.m.
“The Great Debate”, presented by JoAnna Leyenaar and Corrie McDaniel, March 28, 4:30 p.m.
“Building Health Equity into Rounds: From the Bedside to the Auditorium”, presented by Vignesh Doraiswamy, Carin Powell, Amit Sing, and myself, March 29, 8:30 a.m.
The High-Value Care/Things We Do for No Reason pediatric session is always a great opportunity to review evidence-based medicine and ask questions about the value of the care we provide to hospitalized pediatric patients. This year’s Pediatric High-Value Care session will be presented by Dr. Vivian Lee, one of the 2021 Choosing Wisely for Pediatric Hospital Medicine authors.
The Great Debate pediatric session will feature a common debate in many pediatric hospital medicine groups—should patients be admitted directly from their primary care physician’s office, or should they be triaged through the emergency department? This presentation will review family experience, length of stay, cost, and standardization in an evidence-informed manner.
The Building Health Equity into Rounds: From the Bedside to the Auditorium workshop will be a unique session on how to facilitate discussions of health equity in different educational venues. Determining how to educate on health equity may pose a challenge for many clinicians. In this workshop, the presenters will share models to implement health equity discussions and allow participants to practice facilitating health equity discussions.
Dr. Chang
Weijen W. Chang, MD, FAAP, SFHM, pediatric and adult hospitalist, Baystate Medical Center and Baystate Children’s Hospital, Springfield, Mass., associate professor of pediatrics, University of Massachusetts Medical School Baystate, chief of pediatric hospital medicine and vice-chair for clinical affairs, Baystate Children’s Hospital, physician editor of The Hospitalist
“Ikigai—Finding Joy/Purpose in Medicine,” presented by Sanjay Patel, Ethan Molitch-Hou, Bruno Alvarez Concejo, and You Mee Shin, March 27, 10:10 a.m. After successive pandemics, we’re all reassessing our priorities in life and work. I have no idea what ikigai means, but I hope to find out!
“Lover or Liver? Inpatient Management of Decompensated Cirrhosis,” presented by Suchita Sata, March 27, 4:40 p.m. Okay, this has to be the best session title ever and makes my list for this reason alone.
“Things We Do For No Reason—Periop,” presented by Sunil Sahai and Dennis Chang, March 27, 4:40 p.m. I love TWDFNR in all its forms, and I’m especially weak on periop management. So, it’s a 2-for-1 for me.
Dr. Gadalla
Ilaria Gadalla, DMSc, PA-C, hospital medicine physician assistant and physician assistant department chair, South University, West Palm Beach, Fla.
“Immigrants in Hospital Medicine: Challenges and Success Stories”, presented by Manpreet Malik, Benji Mathews, and Rachel Thompson, March 27, 11:10 a.m.
I’m looking forward to gaining insight from this session. Treating immigrants is a challenge not only with the language barrier, but certainly ensuring continuous medical follow-up. Some patients will remain in the U.S. while others will continue to commute periodically between countries. In addition, gaining access to resources is certainly a challenge.
“Dark Side of the Moon: Combating the Health Effects of Night Shift”, presented by Kathleen Atlas, Jessica Chambers, Rita Pandya, and Jennifer Post, March 28, 3:30 p.m.
Nocturnal hospitalists are typically strong, competent leaders supporting multiple departments. Varying from day shift to night shift impacts one’s physical health. I’m interested in exploring the health effects identified on nocturnists. Hospitals rely heavily on their night shift teams. Presenters will provide guidance in prioritizing and ensuring the wellness of these teams.
Dr. Kumar
Dileep Kumar, MD, MBA, FACP, FAAPL, CPE, hospitalist, East Michigan Hospitalists, Port Huron, Mich.
Hospitalists are natural leaders. Understanding the basics of leadership and an interdisciplinary focus are necessary for the success of hospitalists in the future. There are a few sessions at Converge 2023 that will focus on these topics.
Two interesting sessions on the first day, March 27, are Evolution of Interdisciplinary Teams: Changing from Silo Mentality to High Reliable Teams, presented by Tulay Aksoy, Maura Porricolo, and Olena Slinchenkova at 10:10 a.m. and Building Financial Fluency: How to Develop Your Business Case, presented by Tulay Aksoy and Maura Porricolo at 2:40 p.m.
There are two sessions on March 28, both at 3:30 p.m.—What to Do When It’s Not Working: Strategies for Dysfunctional Teams and Groups, presented by Justin Boer and Christopher Russo, and The Five Approaches to Change Management: A Primer on Leading Quality Initiatives, presented by Aziz Ansari and Thomas McIlraith. If you suspect your group is dysfunctional, you probably should attend the first session!
Two interesting topics on the last day, March 29, are Choose Your Own Adventure: How to Be an Advocate for Well-being in Your Organization, presented by Sarah Richards and Swati Mehta at 8:30 a.m. and AM) and Tradeoffs, Staffing Myths, and Business Theory: Measuring and Driving Hospitalist Value Beyond the wRVU, presented by Marisha Burden and Angela Keniston at 11:00 a.m. The first session hopefully will shed light on how to become an advocate for anything in your organization!
Dr. Ajala
Khaalisha Ajala, MD, FHM, assistant professor of medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta
I’m looking forward to sharing my talk, “Rounding While Black”, on March 27 at 2:30 p.m., which will examine evidence of structural racism in everyday clinical practice.
I’m also looking forward to: “Hospitalists on the Hill: Learnings from a Year Spent Working on Capitol Hill”, presented by Ann Sheehy and Sarguni Singh, March 28 at 10:30 a.m. and “Beantown to Texas: CKD Update for the Hospitalist”, presented by Samira Farouk, March 29 at 12:30 p.m.
SHM Converge On Demand
If you can’t attend SHM Converge 2023 in Austin, Texas, or if you want to ensure you don’t miss a single session, Converge On Demand is the perfect option to soak up all the education and information at your own pace.
SHM Converge offers education and networking opportunities designed specifically for the hospitalist. You can re-energize and focus your practices with the latest research, best practices, and newest innovations in the field that can immediately be applied to improving patient care.
Learning Objectives:
- Describe current state-of-the-art, evidence-based, clinical practice for key topics in adult and pediatric hospital medicine.
- Implement system changes to promote quality and improve patient safety
- Address current challenges in academic and educational systems for improving hospital medicine
- Discuss new policy, financial, ethical, legal, and management trends impacting inpatient care
SHM is accredited by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) to provide continuing medical education (CME) for physicians. SHM designates this enduring internet activity for a maximum of 89.00 AMA PRA Category 1 Credit™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Successful completion of this CME activity, which includes participation in the activity, with individual assessments of the participant and feedback to the participant, enables the participant to earn a maximum of 44.50 MOC points in the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Maintenance of Certification (MOC) program. It is the CME activity provider’s responsibility to submit participant completion information to ACCME for the purpose of granting ABIM MOC points. *Amounts are subject to change. When you purchase SHM Converge on Demand, you’ll have access until 2025. SHM Converge on Demand will be available in April 2023. Sign up here to get notified when it’s available.