Published in the December 2006 issue of Today’s Hospitalist
When the Spring 2007 CME Series for Hospitalists arrives in two U.S. cities early next year, it will feature all new sessions and speakers “and a new half day of courses focused on nonclinical practice issues.
The meeting series, which will be held in Los Angeles Feb. 11-12 and in Boston March 11-12, will provide a full day of sessions on clinical topics that make up the bread and butter of hospital medicine. Those sessions will target pneumonia, COPD, arrhythmias, nephrology, sepsis and neurology.
But the spring series will also feature sessions that go beyond bedside management to help hospitalists outside their role as clinicians. Those courses, which have been added as part of a new half-day format, will explore topics like coding, contract negotiations, and practice and discharge management.
The series also offers bonus sessions with two hot topics for hospitalists: clinical problem-solving and patient safety. While both meetings will feature the same line-up of clinical and bonus sessions, the nonclinical content will change from meeting to meeting.
“Phenomenal course”
Scott A. Flanders, MD, who is serving as the Faculty Chair for the spring series, says the meetings will give hospitalists a unique combination of clinical topics that they can find nowhere else.
“This is really a phenomenal course,” explains Dr. Flanders, who is associate professor of medicine at the University of Michigan and director of the University of Michigan’s hospitalist program. “It’s a great compilation of topics that you would never find together in one CME course.” While you may find a course on neurological emergencies and seizures geared to a hospitalist audience, “that course would not also have a session on arrhythmias relevant to hospitalists and a session on COPD being given by a world leader on the topic.”
Dr. Flanders adds that the meeting’s two bonus sessions add even more depth to the line-up.
“We have an international expert on topics related to patient safety who can specifically target the hospitalist,” he explains. “We also have a discussion about the art of clinical problem-solving in the inpatient setting.”
The series is co-sponsored by Hospitalist Conferences USA and the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health and held in cooperation with Today’s Hospitalist magazine.
A cadre of experts
The heart of the series continues to be clinical sessions that give hospitalists practical, evidence-based information they need in their day-to-day practice. Dr. Flanders says that attendees will be impressed by the caliber of speakers, as well as their familiarity with the issues that matter to hospitalists.
“We’ve gathered a cadre of national experts who spend a good deal of their time on the inpatient management of several very common problems,” he explains. “As national leaders in their fields, they work with hospitalists on a regular basis, so they can effectively communicate what hospitalists need to understand.”
Hospitalists at the meeting can also expect to hear leading-edge research and new treatment paradigms for common hospital diseases. “As national leaders,” Dr. Flanders says, “this group is up to-date with the most current advances. They know what’s going on at that front edge.”
Even more importantly, the meeting will give hospitalists practical information they can take home and implement in their day-to-day practice. Along those lines, Dr. Flanders says that the meeting line-up is designed to focus on disease states that hospitalists commonly treat but are not always well covered in traditional CME courses.
For instance, “this meeting will include a discussion of problems with contrast nephropathy,” he says, “which we deal with on a regular basis in hospital medicine.”
New bonus sessions
The spring meeting series will also offer the following bonus sessions:
“¢ Clinical problem-solving. In a special session being offered for the first time, Sanjay Saint, MD, will talk about ways that hospitalists can improve their clinical problem-solving skills. The session will include both the elements of a didactic lecture and case-based learning.
“By hearing and having the audience work through a clinical conundrum,” says Dr. Flanders, “participants will learn about the common diagnostic errors that physicians routinely make in clinical reasoning in the inpatient setting. Being aware of those will provide strategies to avoid them in the practice of hospital medicine.”
“¢ Patient safety. Kaveh Shojania, MD, an internationally known expert on patient safety, will discuss strategies that hospitalists can use to make patient safety improvement a reality at their institutions. His presentation will focus in part on low-cost interventions that are appropriate for typical hospitals, and he’ll identify common barriers to implementing patient safety interventions.
Tools for your practice
While Hospitalist Conferences USA has made a name for itself by offering top-notch clinical presentations, the spring meeting is branching out into topics that meet hospitalists’ nonclinical needs.
The spring meetings will feature a half day of presentations that focus on key practice topics. Here’s a breakdown of each meeting’s sessions:
Los Angeles
“¢ Coding and documentation. At the Los Angeles meeting, Today’s Hospitalist coding columnist Tamra McLain will give tips on coding and answer questions from audience members.
“¢ Avoiding common mistakes. Practice management consultant Martin Buser will review the common mistakes that hospitalist programs make “and outline strategies to avoid them.
“¢ Proving your value. Practice management consultant Steve Nahm will give hospitalists tips on how to make their program “priceless” in the eyes of hospital administrators.
Boston
“¢ Financial tools for hospitalists. At the Boston meeting, John R. Thomas will talk about performance indicators and new technologies that can help hospitalist groups boost their bottom line.
“¢ Contracting issues. Andrew Knoll, MD, JD, a hospitalist-turned-lawyer, will take a look at the contract language that should give you pause. Because Dr. Knoll has experience on both sides of the fence examining hospitalist contracts, his talk promises to shed light on the state of physician contracting.
“¢ Improving the discharge process. Jeffrey Greenwald, MD, a hospitalist at Boston Medical Center, will review strategies to improve the discharge process. He’ll not only discuss the literature on the state of discharge planning, but also some of the improvements that his hospital has made.
Go online for more information or to register.
Spring 2007 Hospitalist CME Series: the line-up
CLINICAL SESSIONS
“¢ Community-acquired pneumonia update: Scott A. Flanders, MD
“¢ Inpatient management of COPD: Kevin Flaherty, MD, MS
“¢ Evaluation and management of arrhythmias in the hospital: Darryl Elmouchi, MD
“¢ Inpatient nephrology: selected topics for the hospitalist:Suzanne Watnick, MD
“¢ Sepsis management 2007:Michael D. Howell, MD
“¢ Neuro emergencies/seizures: Andrew Josephson, MD
“¢ Prevention and treatment of acute GI bleeding in the hospitalized patient: Peter Lindenauer, MD
BONUS SESSIONS
“¢ The art and science of clinical problem-solving: Sanjay Saint, MD
“¢ Patient safety for hospitalists: Kaveh Shojania, MD
TOOLS FOR YOUR PRACTICE
Los Angeles
“¢ Coding and documentation: Tamra McLain
“¢ Common mistakes your hospitalist program can’t afford to make: Martin Buser
“¢ Going beyond bedside clinical management: Steve Nahm
Boston
“¢ Tools of financial health for the hospitalist: John R. Thomas
“¢ Contracting issues for hospitalists Andrew Knoll, MD, JD
“¢ Improving the hospital discharge process: Jeff Greenwald, MD
