At Work in Washington
The Lake Erie Chapter meeting was Aug. 20 at the Mallorca Restaurant in Cleveland. Fourteen SHM members representing four HM groups attended. Christian Nasr, MD, endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic, gave a presentation on inpatient management of diabetes. The evidence-based presentation was followed by lively discussion from the attendees. The meeting was sponsored by sanofi-aventis US, LLC.
Charlotte, N.C.
The Charlotte Chapter’s Sept. 25 meeting was entitled: “SHM Web-Based Resources: Tools to Improve the Quality Gap in Heart Failure.” The meeting, at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in Charlotte, was attended by nine SHM members from six HM groups. Nurcan Ilksoy, MD, hospitalist at Wellstar Windy Hill Hospital, Marietta, Ga., gave the heart failure presentation, which included new clinical information and a review of the basic information on the subject. SCIOS, Inc. sponsored the meeting.
Indiana
The Indiana Chapter’s Aug. 20 meeting took place at Sullivan’s Steakhouse in Indianapolis. Twenty SHM members representing eight HM groups learned about “Billing, Coding, and Documentation of Consultations/Co-management of Patients” from Robin Stickney, MD, JD, a senior consultant with St. Vincent Health, a division of Ascension Health, in Indianapolis. UCB Pharmaceuticals sponsored the meeting.
Chicago
The Chicago Chapter met Oct. 29 at Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab in Chicago. The guest speaker was Tamara Vokes, MD, associate professor of medicine, the Department of Endocrinology at the University of Chicago. Dr. Vokes made a presentation and led discussion on “The Treatment of Osteoporosis.”
Election results were announced and the new chapter officers are: Ana Nowell, MD, president, hospitalist at Advocate Health Centers; Joanna Maurice, MD, University of Illinois-Chicago, vice-president; Aziz Ansari, DO, hospitalist and assistant program director at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago, secretary.
Dr. Nowell thanked the outgoing officers for their tremendous efforts and announced plans for 2009. Nearly 50 hospitalists attended the meeting, which was sponsored by Novartis.
Nashville/Middle Tennessee
The Nashville/Middle Tennessee Chapter met Sept. 11 at Morton’s Steakhouse in Nashville. Twenty-six attendees participated in a question-and-answer presentation on “Hospital-Inquired Infections: Diagnosis and Treatment Considerations for the Hospitalist” by Michael Gelfand, MD, FACP, professor of medicine at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. The meeting was sponsored by Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceuticals.
Payment Advisory Commission Interaction
The PPC has made SHM’s engagement with the influential Medicare Payment Advisory Commission a top priority. An independent Congressional agency established by the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, MedPAC advises Congress on issues affecting the Medicare program. Our efforts to educate the commission and staff about hospital medicine are paying off. Through attendance at MedPAC meetings, as well as conference calls and face-to-face meetings with staff, SHM has educated the commission about the positive contributions hospitalists are making throughout the country.
PPC members attended MedPAC’s March 5, 2008, meeting and addressed the commission during the public comment period. The PPC offered to further educate the commission regarding the role hospital medicine can play in Medicare reform. In June, key SHM leaders met with MedPAC staff, including executive director Mark Miller, in Washington to discuss hospital medicine and SHM’s quality improvement initiatives, including Project BOOST. At MedPAC’s request, the PPC has worked to develop a “starter set” of metrics to define high-performing hospitalist programs. It might form a basis for future value-based purchasing initiatives.
Also in June, MedPAC released its report to Congress on “Reforming the Delivery System,” which contained extensive information and feedback from SHM.
