Are your hospitalists so busy that they’re hurting the bottom line?
by Troy Ahlstrom
It’s been a crazy summer! Our census has nearly doubled over the past six months, but we’ve sustained that growth with no increase in personnel. I’ve faced days with twenty patients to start the day and much more to do before. But my perspective is decidedly different than it was a mere five years ago. I used to see the high census as a long day ahead, but one that would ultimately benefit the hospital and hospitalist alike. Sure, I was happy to make the extra money! Things have changed...
SHM's practice management blog, The Hospitalist Leader
Programs need more than a "more-hands-on-deck" approach
by Bonnie Darves
If you need proof that midlevel providers can play a vital role in hospital medicine, look no further than the Hospitalists of Northwest Michigan.
Many of the PAs in the group, which is based in Traverse City, operate as high-functioning members of the clinical team. One performs inpatient dermatology consults, while another serves as the group’s go-to fracture specialist in the ED.
By James W. Levy, PA-C, vice-president for personnel, Hospitalists of Northern Michigan
My group has used non-physician providers (NPPs) for 13 years with great success and excellent retention, physician and patient satisfaction, and quality of care. We have presented nationally on the subject. We have always resisted the formation of separate "teams," and our system involves all 15 NPPs in our largest program working serially with all 35 physicians.
As the healthcare system attempts to cut costs, financial support to HM groups continues decades-long surge.
by Richard Quinn, July 11, 2011.
Last December, St. Peter’s Hospital, a 122-bed acute-care facility in Helena, Mont., crossed a symbolic line in the decade-long evolution of the financial payments that hospitals have provided to HM groups to make up the gap that exists between the expenses of running a hospitalist service and the professional fees that generate its revenue.
by Richard Quinn, May, 2010
As specialty matures, annual meeting flourishes with practical, educational, and social takeaways
NATIONAL HARBOR, Md.—As HM10 wound down in this tony Washington, D.C., outpost, a trio of hospitalists from St. Louis smiled widely and brightly as a stranger took their picture in front of the main stage.
by Richard Quinn, June 29, 2011
A quickly-scuttled plan by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to use "mystery shoppers" to test the availability of primary-care physicians (PCPs) would likely never be extended to HM—but the federal tack has certainly touched a nerve with some practitioners.
by Richard Quinn, May 18, 2011
The vast majority of the more than 2,500 attendees last week at SHM's annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, were already on their way to the airport when one last dedicated group discussed the future of the specialty.
By David A. Friar, MD, SFHM, June 18, 2011
The one thing that remains constant in health care seems to be its continuous evolution.
From the advent of antibiotics and immunizations — to bioengineering, digital imaging, and the electronic medical record — advancements in patient care have resulted in longer, healthier lives.
by Lisa Ryan, The Hospitalist, March 2011
Michael Radzienda, MD, FHM, once worked in a hospitalist program in which physicians were scheduled 30 days straight on clinical duty and 30 days off clinical duty.
by By Jason Carris, The Hospitalist, September 2010
More than two-thirds of HM programs provide on-site coverage at night; millennials' belief in work-life balance fuels "clearly defined" schedules.
by Jason Carris, The eWire, 09-08-2010
A self-described “numbers” guy, Troy Ahlstrom, MD, FHM, is always glad to get his hands on new data. As the CFO of Traverse City-based Hospitalists of Northern Michigan, he is a seasoned veteran of contract negotiations with new recruits or hospital administrators.
By Jane Gross, New York Times, May 2010
Because hospitalists are on top of everything that happens to a patient — from entry through treatment and discharge — they are largely credited with reducing the length of hospital stays by anywhere from 17 to 30 percent, and reducing costs by 13 to 20 percent, according to studies in The Journal of the American Medical Association.