Society of Hospital Medicine Media Information Kit
View the Complete SHM Media Information Kit or read
the At-A-Glance Information provided below:
SHM At-A-Glance
Name
Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM)
Mission
Established as the leading national voice and resource for
hospitalists and dedicated to supporting and enhancing the practice of
hospital medicine and the delivery of the highest-quality care for all
hospitalized patients.
Founded
Founded in 1997 by Internists John Nelson,
M.D., of Bellevue, Washington; and Winthrop Whitcomb, M.D., of
Springfield, Massachusetts. The Society of Hospital Medicine celebrated
its 10-year Anniversary in 2007.
Goals
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To promote high-quality care for all hospitalized patients.
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To promote education and research in hospital medicine.
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To enhance medical staff teamwork to achieve the best possible care
for hospitalized patients.
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To advocate a career path that will attract and retain the highest
quality hospitalists.
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To define the competencies, activities and needs of the hospitalist
community.
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To support, propose and promote changes to the healthcare system
that lead to higher-quality and more efficient care by
hospitalists.
Activities
SHM:
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provides continuing education and industry updates for hospitalists
through a monthly publication, The Hospitalist;
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publishes the nation’s first and only peer-reviewed journal
for hospital medicine, The Journal of Hospital Medicine;
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conducts surveys, prepares written analyses and conducts discussion
forums that define the specialty of hospital medicine as it continues to
evolve;
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develops policy and position statements that address the concerns
and issues of hospitalists;
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advocates on behalf of hospitalists before other medical societies
and government and regulatory agencies
Membership
Approximately 9,000 members as of August 2009. Membership is open to
physicians in training and in practice, healthcare administrators,
healthcare analysts, and others interested in hospital medicine.
Founders
Internists John Nelson, M.D., of Bellevue, Washington; and Winthrop
Whitcomb, M.D., of Springfield, Massachusetts
Leadership
Current President:
Scott A. Flanders, MD, FHM
Professor of Medicine
Director, Hospitalist Program
Associate Director, Inpatient Programs, University of Michigan
Chief Executive Officer:
Laurence Wellikson, MD, FHM
Philadelphia, PA
SHM Headquarters:
Society of Hospital Medicine
1500 Spring Garden Street
Suite 501
Philadelphia, PA 19130
Web Site:
www.hospitalmedicine.org
Media Contact
Brendon Shank
Public Relations Department
Phone: 202-256-2083
Email: bshank@hospitalmedicine.org
View the Complete SHM Media Information Kit
Hospital Medicine At-A-Glance
Hospital Medicine
The fastest-growing medical specialty in the U.S. focusing on the
treatment of hospitalized patients. In October 2006, the American Board
of Internal Medicine (ABIM) announced plans to recognize hospital
medicine as a distinct field of Internal Medicine, and began pursuing a
plan of Focused Recognition for Hospital Medicine.
Hospitalists
Physicians whose primary professional focus is the general medical
care of hospitalized patients. Their activities include patient care,
teaching, research and leadership related to hospital care. Many
patients are referred to hospitalists by their primary care physicians
(PCPs) for treatment during the duration of their hospitalization then
returned to the care of their PCPs after discharge. Hospitalists consult
on and treat patients referred by surgeons and medical subspecialists
during their hospitalizations. Hospitalists also care for the
“unassigned patient” who has no primary doctor.
Training
About 82.3% of practicing hospitalists are
trained in general internal medicine, 6.5% in general pediatrics, 4.0%
in an internal medicine subspecialty, 3.7% in family practice, 3/1% in
internal medicine pediatrics and 0.4% in a pediatrics
subspecialty.
Current Number of Practicing Hospitalists
An estimated 28,000 hospitalists practice
today
Anticipated Need of Hospitalists
A 1999 manpower analysis initially projected that by the end of the
decade the hospitalist workforce would grow to approximately 20,000
making the field about the size of cardiology. It is now believed that
the number of hospitalists could be 33,000 or more by the end of the
decade..
Presence
Virtually all of the country’s leading hospitals have embraced
hospital medicine, including the Mayo and Cleveland Clinics, Harvard
teaching hospitals (Brigham and Women’s and Beth Israel
Deaconess), and the hospitals of the Universities of California (San
Francisco), Chicago, Pennsylvania and Michigan. In addition, many of the
nation’s largest managed care programs – including Humana,
Kaiser, Aetna, PacifiCare, Cigna and others – are supportive of
hospital medicine programs.
View the Complete SHM Media Information Kit
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