Launching into the future

Hospital Medicine: 10 years ago

My first Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference was HM08, and it changed the course of my professional career.

I was a first-year hospitalist from an academic program of fewer than 10 physicians. My knowledge about my field did not extend much beyond the clinical practice of hospital medicine. I remember sitting at the airport on my way to HM08 and excitedly looking over the schedule for the meeting. I diligently circled the sessions that I was looking forward to attending, the majority of which focused on the clinical tracks. But by the end of the meeting, in additional to valuable medical knowledge, I walked away with novel insights that launched me into my future.

There were three transformative aspects of the meeting: It exposed me to new ideas in my specialty, to emerging themes and trends in health care, and – most importantly – to new colleagues who, over the years, have transformed into friends, collaborators, and mentors. Here’s how each of those has played a role in my career:

New ideas in HM: In 2008, comanagement was still a new concept. As I attended sessions and spoke with hospitalists from across the country, it became clear that this was a collaboration that would be core to our specialty. Within a couple of months of returning home from the annual conference, I was approached by the chair of neurosurgery at my institution with a proposal to develop a quality program for his group. While at that time I was considering other competing interests, my experience at HM08 helped me recognize that this was a unique opportunity to build bridges across specialties and to collaborate. I subsequently became the executive director of quality for neurosurgery and over the years was able to create a strong relationship between our departments that led to building a nationally recognized program with exceptional performance in hospital-based quality.

Side note: If you’re interested in resources on comanagement, please check out SHM’s Resources for Effective Co-Management of Hospitalized Patients at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/comanagement .

Emerging themes and trends in health care: While the quality movement had launched about a decade before HM08, many institutions still did not have robust programs. As I attended sessions during the annual meeting and spoke with thought leaders, one message became clear: Hospitalists would have to lead the quality movement at their institutions. When I returned home, I began learning about quality improvement and started to lead various initiatives. These efforts led to my appointment as associate chief medical officer for the health system. This position enabled me to leverage my knowledge of hospital-based care and collaborate across various specialties to reduce our mortality and readmission rates in the organization.

Side note: If you’re interested in learning more about quality improvement educational and mentorship opportunities, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/qi and look at the resources for each specific topic.

And, most importantly, friendships: By far the most important thing I took away from HM08 was the friendships that started at that meeting and have developed over the years since. A decade later, I continue to rely on, grow from, and be challenged by the same people I met at that meeting. They are the colleagues I call when I find myself in a tough spot at work and need advice, the collaborators I work with on grants and projects, and the friends I text when I travel to a new town and want to grab a bite to eat.

Side note: If you’re interested in connecting with colleagues who share similar interests, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/sigs and review SHM’s Special Interest Groups to find ones that are right for you. To connect on a more local level, find an SHM Chapter near you at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/chapters.

I’ve shared these stories with you because for me my journey with our society has been a deeply personal one. And I feel indebted to SHM and the incredible people who drawn to it for helping me develop and enjoy a rich and rewarding career thus far. So, as I look forward to the next decade, I wanted to share my thoughts on HM and emerging themes in health care with you.
 

 

Hospital medicine: The next decade

New ideas in HM: Population health management

Building on our strong culture of collaboration as we move forward into this next decade, we have to define how we deliver value in the context of population health management. As hospitalists, we have to push the boundaries of the hospital and provide high-value care beyond our four walls.

How can we do that? I think technology will play a critical role in extending our reach beyond the hospital. As we move toward delivering greater value to our patients, lower acuity patients will receive care in their homes. Telehealth will enable us to monitor and manage these patients remotely while transferring our bedside management to patients’ bedrooms in their own homes. Virtual hospitals will further enable us to evaluate, triage, monitor, and manage patients remotely. Our active engagement in these efforts is critical to ensure the continued growth and value we bring to our patients, our organizations, and our society.
 

Emerging themes and trends in health care: Transitioning from quality to value

In the next decade, value will prevail. This is not a novel concept – much like how quality was not a new idea in 2008.

Value has been around for a while: There are some robust programs nationally, there is research around the topic, and there are policies with implications for reimbursements. However, the full potential of value has not yet been realized by health care – it exists in individual programs, not in everything we do. The unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions in health care in 2018 support the fact that the future will belong to those institutions that can deliver the highest quality of care at the most appropriate cost throughout the entire continuum of care.

What are some of the tools that will help us get there? Artificial intelligence and machine learning will improve the predictive value for the care we deliver to individual patients; some preliminary work in this area has already revealed that factors that we previously associated with higher risk of readmissions are not truly predictive. Another emerging technology is blockchain: By creating a single source of truth for our patients’ medical information, it enables us to have dynamic, high-integrity records regardless of which health systems and EHRs have cared for those patients.

I wish you an energizing journey as you launch your future into the next dynamic decade of health care, and I look forward to connecting with you as we continue to build a society that prepares us for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
 

Dr. Afsar is the president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the chief ambulatory officer and chief medical officer for the accountable care organizations at UC Irvine Health.

Hospital Medicine: 10 years ago

My first Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference was HM08, and it changed the course of my professional career.

I was a first-year hospitalist from an academic program of fewer than 10 physicians. My knowledge about my field did not extend much beyond the clinical practice of hospital medicine. I remember sitting at the airport on my way to HM08 and excitedly looking over the schedule for the meeting. I diligently circled the sessions that I was looking forward to attending, the majority of which focused on the clinical tracks. But by the end of the meeting, in additional to valuable medical knowledge, I walked away with novel insights that launched me into my future.

There were three transformative aspects of the meeting: It exposed me to new ideas in my specialty, to emerging themes and trends in health care, and – most importantly – to new colleagues who, over the years, have transformed into friends, collaborators, and mentors. Here’s how each of those has played a role in my career:

New ideas in HM: In 2008, comanagement was still a new concept. As I attended sessions and spoke with hospitalists from across the country, it became clear that this was a collaboration that would be core to our specialty. Within a couple of months of returning home from the annual conference, I was approached by the chair of neurosurgery at my institution with a proposal to develop a quality program for his group. While at that time I was considering other competing interests, my experience at HM08 helped me recognize that this was a unique opportunity to build bridges across specialties and to collaborate. I subsequently became the executive director of quality for neurosurgery and over the years was able to create a strong relationship between our departments that led to building a nationally recognized program with exceptional performance in hospital-based quality.

Side note: If you’re interested in resources on comanagement, please check out SHM’s Resources for Effective Co-Management of Hospitalized Patients at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/comanagement .

Emerging themes and trends in health care: While the quality movement had launched about a decade before HM08, many institutions still did not have robust programs. As I attended sessions during the annual meeting and spoke with thought leaders, one message became clear: Hospitalists would have to lead the quality movement at their institutions. When I returned home, I began learning about quality improvement and started to lead various initiatives. These efforts led to my appointment as associate chief medical officer for the health system. This position enabled me to leverage my knowledge of hospital-based care and collaborate across various specialties to reduce our mortality and readmission rates in the organization.

Side note: If you’re interested in learning more about quality improvement educational and mentorship opportunities, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/qi and look at the resources for each specific topic.

And, most importantly, friendships: By far the most important thing I took away from HM08 was the friendships that started at that meeting and have developed over the years since. A decade later, I continue to rely on, grow from, and be challenged by the same people I met at that meeting. They are the colleagues I call when I find myself in a tough spot at work and need advice, the collaborators I work with on grants and projects, and the friends I text when I travel to a new town and want to grab a bite to eat.

Side note: If you’re interested in connecting with colleagues who share similar interests, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/sigs and review SHM’s Special Interest Groups to find ones that are right for you. To connect on a more local level, find an SHM Chapter near you at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/chapters.

I’ve shared these stories with you because for me my journey with our society has been a deeply personal one. And I feel indebted to SHM and the incredible people who drawn to it for helping me develop and enjoy a rich and rewarding career thus far. So, as I look forward to the next decade, I wanted to share my thoughts on HM and emerging themes in health care with you.
 

 

Hospital medicine: The next decade

New ideas in HM: Population health management

Building on our strong culture of collaboration as we move forward into this next decade, we have to define how we deliver value in the context of population health management. As hospitalists, we have to push the boundaries of the hospital and provide high-value care beyond our four walls.

How can we do that? I think technology will play a critical role in extending our reach beyond the hospital. As we move toward delivering greater value to our patients, lower acuity patients will receive care in their homes. Telehealth will enable us to monitor and manage these patients remotely while transferring our bedside management to patients’ bedrooms in their own homes. Virtual hospitals will further enable us to evaluate, triage, monitor, and manage patients remotely. Our active engagement in these efforts is critical to ensure the continued growth and value we bring to our patients, our organizations, and our society.
 

Emerging themes and trends in health care: Transitioning from quality to value

In the next decade, value will prevail. This is not a novel concept – much like how quality was not a new idea in 2008.

Value has been around for a while: There are some robust programs nationally, there is research around the topic, and there are policies with implications for reimbursements. However, the full potential of value has not yet been realized by health care – it exists in individual programs, not in everything we do. The unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions in health care in 2018 support the fact that the future will belong to those institutions that can deliver the highest quality of care at the most appropriate cost throughout the entire continuum of care.

What are some of the tools that will help us get there? Artificial intelligence and machine learning will improve the predictive value for the care we deliver to individual patients; some preliminary work in this area has already revealed that factors that we previously associated with higher risk of readmissions are not truly predictive. Another emerging technology is blockchain: By creating a single source of truth for our patients’ medical information, it enables us to have dynamic, high-integrity records regardless of which health systems and EHRs have cared for those patients.

I wish you an energizing journey as you launch your future into the next dynamic decade of health care, and I look forward to connecting with you as we continue to build a society that prepares us for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
 

Dr. Afsar is the president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the chief ambulatory officer and chief medical officer for the accountable care organizations at UC Irvine Health.

Hospital Medicine: 10 years ago

My first Society of Hospital Medicine Annual Conference was HM08, and it changed the course of my professional career.

I was a first-year hospitalist from an academic program of fewer than 10 physicians. My knowledge about my field did not extend much beyond the clinical practice of hospital medicine. I remember sitting at the airport on my way to HM08 and excitedly looking over the schedule for the meeting. I diligently circled the sessions that I was looking forward to attending, the majority of which focused on the clinical tracks. But by the end of the meeting, in additional to valuable medical knowledge, I walked away with novel insights that launched me into my future.

There were three transformative aspects of the meeting: It exposed me to new ideas in my specialty, to emerging themes and trends in health care, and – most importantly – to new colleagues who, over the years, have transformed into friends, collaborators, and mentors. Here’s how each of those has played a role in my career:

New ideas in HM: In 2008, comanagement was still a new concept. As I attended sessions and spoke with hospitalists from across the country, it became clear that this was a collaboration that would be core to our specialty. Within a couple of months of returning home from the annual conference, I was approached by the chair of neurosurgery at my institution with a proposal to develop a quality program for his group. While at that time I was considering other competing interests, my experience at HM08 helped me recognize that this was a unique opportunity to build bridges across specialties and to collaborate. I subsequently became the executive director of quality for neurosurgery and over the years was able to create a strong relationship between our departments that led to building a nationally recognized program with exceptional performance in hospital-based quality.

Side note: If you’re interested in resources on comanagement, please check out SHM’s Resources for Effective Co-Management of Hospitalized Patients at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/comanagement .

Emerging themes and trends in health care: While the quality movement had launched about a decade before HM08, many institutions still did not have robust programs. As I attended sessions during the annual meeting and spoke with thought leaders, one message became clear: Hospitalists would have to lead the quality movement at their institutions. When I returned home, I began learning about quality improvement and started to lead various initiatives. These efforts led to my appointment as associate chief medical officer for the health system. This position enabled me to leverage my knowledge of hospital-based care and collaborate across various specialties to reduce our mortality and readmission rates in the organization.

Side note: If you’re interested in learning more about quality improvement educational and mentorship opportunities, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/qi and look at the resources for each specific topic.

And, most importantly, friendships: By far the most important thing I took away from HM08 was the friendships that started at that meeting and have developed over the years since. A decade later, I continue to rely on, grow from, and be challenged by the same people I met at that meeting. They are the colleagues I call when I find myself in a tough spot at work and need advice, the collaborators I work with on grants and projects, and the friends I text when I travel to a new town and want to grab a bite to eat.

Side note: If you’re interested in connecting with colleagues who share similar interests, please visit https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/sigs and review SHM’s Special Interest Groups to find ones that are right for you. To connect on a more local level, find an SHM Chapter near you at https://www.hospitalmedicine.org/chapters.

I’ve shared these stories with you because for me my journey with our society has been a deeply personal one. And I feel indebted to SHM and the incredible people who drawn to it for helping me develop and enjoy a rich and rewarding career thus far. So, as I look forward to the next decade, I wanted to share my thoughts on HM and emerging themes in health care with you.
 

 

Hospital medicine: The next decade

New ideas in HM: Population health management

Building on our strong culture of collaboration as we move forward into this next decade, we have to define how we deliver value in the context of population health management. As hospitalists, we have to push the boundaries of the hospital and provide high-value care beyond our four walls.

How can we do that? I think technology will play a critical role in extending our reach beyond the hospital. As we move toward delivering greater value to our patients, lower acuity patients will receive care in their homes. Telehealth will enable us to monitor and manage these patients remotely while transferring our bedside management to patients’ bedrooms in their own homes. Virtual hospitals will further enable us to evaluate, triage, monitor, and manage patients remotely. Our active engagement in these efforts is critical to ensure the continued growth and value we bring to our patients, our organizations, and our society.
 

Emerging themes and trends in health care: Transitioning from quality to value

In the next decade, value will prevail. This is not a novel concept – much like how quality was not a new idea in 2008.

Value has been around for a while: There are some robust programs nationally, there is research around the topic, and there are policies with implications for reimbursements. However, the full potential of value has not yet been realized by health care – it exists in individual programs, not in everything we do. The unprecedented number of mergers and acquisitions in health care in 2018 support the fact that the future will belong to those institutions that can deliver the highest quality of care at the most appropriate cost throughout the entire continuum of care.

What are some of the tools that will help us get there? Artificial intelligence and machine learning will improve the predictive value for the care we deliver to individual patients; some preliminary work in this area has already revealed that factors that we previously associated with higher risk of readmissions are not truly predictive. Another emerging technology is blockchain: By creating a single source of truth for our patients’ medical information, it enables us to have dynamic, high-integrity records regardless of which health systems and EHRs have cared for those patients.

I wish you an energizing journey as you launch your future into the next dynamic decade of health care, and I look forward to connecting with you as we continue to build a society that prepares us for the challenges and opportunities ahead.
 

Dr. Afsar is the president of the Society of Hospital Medicine and the chief ambulatory officer and chief medical officer for the accountable care organizations at UC Irvine Health.