Home Quality Improvement QI Current Initiatives and Training Opportunities

Current Initiatives and Hospitalist Training Opportunities

Co-Management Demonstration Project

SHM will be accepting 10 sites to participate in the Co-Management Demonstration Project. Hospitalist mentors with experience in Co-Management programs and QI expertise will work with participating teams to tackle site-specific issues in developing a Hospitalist/Orthopedic surgery Co-Management program. Key issues and guidance provided by the site mentor will include: Developing a service agreement, Determining roles and responsibilities of key stakeholders, Addressing financial and payment issues, Developing key metrics to measure program effectiveness, and Obtaining buy-in from physicians and hospital administration.
Learn more about the Co-Management Demonstration Project

Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation (GCMI) Program

SHM has accepted 30 sites to participate in the Glycemic Control Mentored Implementation (GCMI) program sponsored by sanofi-aventis US, LLC. Mentors with QI and glycemic control expertise are working with each participating team to tackle site-specific issues using proven QI techniques. The range of issues include: subcutaneous insulin protocols, transition from subcutaneous to infusion, infusion insulin, care coordination, improving follow up care, and having a good hypoglycemia management and prevention protocol.
Learn more about GCMI

Pharmacoeconomics Advisory Board

The "science" of Pharmacoeconomics is relatively new and is not uniformly applied to decisions made in most hospitals. Hospitalists can play a key role in evaluating and shaping thoughtful decisions to utilize pharmaceutical agents, considering not only the absolute cost, but also the value and ROI. With this in mind, SHM convened a broadly represented Advisory Board of key thought leaders including hospital CMOs, COOs, CPOs, hospital pharmacists and hospitalists leaders. The Board has completed the first of a three year action plan designed to ensure that hospitalists understand how best to utilize pharmaceutical agents to improve quality in an efficient and effective way. Year one's focus is on establishing the framework, surveying present practices and determining areas of need in assessing changes in hospital formularies.

Medication Reconciliation: A Team Approach

"Medication Reconciliation: A Team Approach" is an interactive discussion forum on medication reconciliation by experts representing professional, quality, regulatory, and public health organizations, as well as patients. The proceedings from the March 2009 forum were distributed to participating organizations for dissemination to their members and other stakeholders through a variety of channels. The goal is to garner support from participating organizations to move the agenda forward on mediation reconciliation throughout the continuum of care. Funding for this conference was made possible in part by grant number R13HSO17520 from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

VTE Prevention Collaborative

Hospital quality improvement (QI) teams receive a year of mentoring from SHM Experts with VTE and QI expertise to design, evaluate and sustain a VTE prevention initiative. Mentors work with each site leader to tackle site-specific issues using proven QI techniques. Mentoring includes scheduled telephone calls over a 12 month period, e-mail support, and instruction organized around the VTE QI Implementation Guide, SHM's step-by-step guide for developing a VTE prevention program. (The Implementation Guide can also serve as a self-study tool and is available online from the VTE Resource Room.) A new cohort of 50 hospitals will be accepted into the collaborative in July 2010. Applications will become available in April, 2010. If you have questions about the program feel free to contact us at vtepc@hospitalmedicine.org

QI Resource Rooms

SHM's Resources Rooms provide guidance on implementing specific interventions to prevent or improve key patient safety areas. This stepwise guide begins with setting goals and continues through post-implementation tasks including analyzing outcomes and sustaining improvements. Each resource room contains a Quality Improvement Implementation Guide, educational slides sets, Teaching Pearls, Ask the Expert discussion boards, key literature and other helpful resources. Access the landing page for the Quality Improvement Resource Rooms to see the full scope of offerings. Current Resource Room topics include: Acute Coronary Syndrome, BOOSTing Care Transitions, Complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infections, Glycemic Control, Heart Failure, Venous Thromboembolism, Antimicrobial Resistance, and Stroke.

Recently launched Resource Room: cSSSIs

SHM received funding from Ortho-McNeil, Inc. to develop a comprehensive educational and implementation strategy for hospitalists on preventing, diagnosing, and treating Complicated Skin and Skin Structure Infections (cSSSIs). This Resource Room provides a wealth of materials to help you optimize the process for caring for patients with Diabetic Foot Infections, Complicated Pressure Ulcers (Stages III & IV) and Surgical Site Infections at your institution.
Read more about cSSSIs.

BOOSTing Care Transitions

SHM, with the support of the John A. Hartford Foundation and in collaboration with a coalition of national experts developed a toolkit to improve care transitions for older adults at the time of hospital discharge. Thirty sites have been accepted for the Project BOOST (Better Outcomes for Older adults through Safe Transitioning) Mentoring Program-a year of mentoring and coaching from national experts to redesign their discharge process and improve patient safety and outcomes.
Read more about Project BOOST.

BOOST Michigan

The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan, and the University of Michigan collaborate on a statewide initiative in Michigan to reduce preventable readmissions to the hospital and emergency room visits.  The new BOOST program will soon select 15 hospital and physician care sites in Michigan to participate.  Training will begin in May2010.

Quality Pre-Course

The quality pre-course enables hospitalists and their local QI teams to become leaders of breakthrough levels of quality and safety, through the effective implementation of evidence-based, high reliability interventions. Participants will learn techniques for designing, implementing, and evaluating quality improvement projects. The morning session will discuss Frontline Leadership & Goal-Directed Team work, followed by the Hierarchy of Reliability. The morning will also include Storyboard discussions including: Glycemic Control, VTE Prevention Active Bed Management. Break-out sessions in the afternoon focus On Transitions of Care.
Read more about the Quality Pre-Course and HM2010.

Quality Track

Given the importance of quality and patient safety in the delivery of healthcare, the Quality Track is offered to address the imperatives around development and implementation of improvement efforts in the hospital. Practical sessions will cover such areas as the current state of healthcare quality, teaching quality improvement principles, advanced patient safety concepts, patient-centered care, and turning QI initiatives into research. An additional feature is a session on Project Boost, a national discharge QI project.
Find out more about Hospital Medicine 2010.

Expert Training Sessions

SHM will be having their annual meeting in Washington, D.C. 2010. Pre-course information is currently being developed and will help participants dissect Glycemic Control, VTE & Active Bed Management storyboards.
Read more about the annual meeting 2010.

SHM's Leadership Academy will take place in January of 2010 in Scottsdale, AZ. This is for Level I members only. Here participants will learn: leadership strengths and weaknesses and apply them to everyday leadership and management, Effectively advocate the value of their hospitalist programs, Improve patient outcomes, Utilize strategic planning to define a vision for their program, and much more!
Read more about the Leadership Academy 2010.