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Sneak Peek: The Hospital Leader Blog
We go to the altar together.
Last month, I wrote about onboarding and the important responsibility that everyone associated with a hospitalist program has to ensure that each new provider quickly comes to believe he or she made a terrific choice to join the group.
Upon reflection, it seems important to address the other side of this equation. I’m talking about the responsibilities that each candidate has when deciding whether to apply for a job, to interview, and to accept or reject a group’s offer.
The relationship between a hospitalist and the group he or she is part of is a lot like a marriage. Both parties go to the altar together, and the relationship is most likely to be successful when both enter it with their eyes open, having done their due diligence, and with an intention to align their interests and support each other. Here are some things every hospitalist should be thinking about as they assess potential job opportunities:
1. Be clear about your own needs, goals, and priorities. Before you embark on the job-hunting process, take time to do some careful introspection. My partner John Nelson is fond of saying that one of the key reasons many doctors choose to become hospitalists is that they prefer to “date” their practice rather than “marry” it. Which do you want? Are you willing to accept both the benefits and the costs of your preference? What are your short- and long-term career goals? In what part of the country do you want to live, and are you looking for an urban, suburban, or small-town environment? Is it important to be in a teaching setting? Are there specific pieces of work, such as ICU care or procedures, that you want to either pursue or avoid? What personal considerations, such as the needs of your spouse or kids, might limit your options? What structural aspects of the job are most important to you? Schedule? Daily workload? Compensation? I encourage you to think through these and other similar questions so that you are clear in your own mind about your personal job selection criteria. This will enable you to honestly articulate these things to others and to assess potential job opportunities in light of them.
Read the full text of this blog post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a founding partner at Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants, a consulting practice that has specialized in helping clients enhance the effectiveness and value of hospital medicine programs.
Also on The Hospital Leader …
Don’t Compare HM Group Part B Costs Hospital to Hospital by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
Overcoming a Continued Physician Shortage by Danielle Scheurer, MD, MSCR, SFHM
Is Patient-Centered Care Bad for Resident Education? by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, MHM
We go to the altar together.
Last month, I wrote about onboarding and the important responsibility that everyone associated with a hospitalist program has to ensure that each new provider quickly comes to believe he or she made a terrific choice to join the group.
Upon reflection, it seems important to address the other side of this equation. I’m talking about the responsibilities that each candidate has when deciding whether to apply for a job, to interview, and to accept or reject a group’s offer.
The relationship between a hospitalist and the group he or she is part of is a lot like a marriage. Both parties go to the altar together, and the relationship is most likely to be successful when both enter it with their eyes open, having done their due diligence, and with an intention to align their interests and support each other. Here are some things every hospitalist should be thinking about as they assess potential job opportunities:
1. Be clear about your own needs, goals, and priorities. Before you embark on the job-hunting process, take time to do some careful introspection. My partner John Nelson is fond of saying that one of the key reasons many doctors choose to become hospitalists is that they prefer to “date” their practice rather than “marry” it. Which do you want? Are you willing to accept both the benefits and the costs of your preference? What are your short- and long-term career goals? In what part of the country do you want to live, and are you looking for an urban, suburban, or small-town environment? Is it important to be in a teaching setting? Are there specific pieces of work, such as ICU care or procedures, that you want to either pursue or avoid? What personal considerations, such as the needs of your spouse or kids, might limit your options? What structural aspects of the job are most important to you? Schedule? Daily workload? Compensation? I encourage you to think through these and other similar questions so that you are clear in your own mind about your personal job selection criteria. This will enable you to honestly articulate these things to others and to assess potential job opportunities in light of them.
Read the full text of this blog post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a founding partner at Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants, a consulting practice that has specialized in helping clients enhance the effectiveness and value of hospital medicine programs.
Also on The Hospital Leader …
Don’t Compare HM Group Part B Costs Hospital to Hospital by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
Overcoming a Continued Physician Shortage by Danielle Scheurer, MD, MSCR, SFHM
Is Patient-Centered Care Bad for Resident Education? by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, MHM
We go to the altar together.
Last month, I wrote about onboarding and the important responsibility that everyone associated with a hospitalist program has to ensure that each new provider quickly comes to believe he or she made a terrific choice to join the group.
Upon reflection, it seems important to address the other side of this equation. I’m talking about the responsibilities that each candidate has when deciding whether to apply for a job, to interview, and to accept or reject a group’s offer.
The relationship between a hospitalist and the group he or she is part of is a lot like a marriage. Both parties go to the altar together, and the relationship is most likely to be successful when both enter it with their eyes open, having done their due diligence, and with an intention to align their interests and support each other. Here are some things every hospitalist should be thinking about as they assess potential job opportunities:
1. Be clear about your own needs, goals, and priorities. Before you embark on the job-hunting process, take time to do some careful introspection. My partner John Nelson is fond of saying that one of the key reasons many doctors choose to become hospitalists is that they prefer to “date” their practice rather than “marry” it. Which do you want? Are you willing to accept both the benefits and the costs of your preference? What are your short- and long-term career goals? In what part of the country do you want to live, and are you looking for an urban, suburban, or small-town environment? Is it important to be in a teaching setting? Are there specific pieces of work, such as ICU care or procedures, that you want to either pursue or avoid? What personal considerations, such as the needs of your spouse or kids, might limit your options? What structural aspects of the job are most important to you? Schedule? Daily workload? Compensation? I encourage you to think through these and other similar questions so that you are clear in your own mind about your personal job selection criteria. This will enable you to honestly articulate these things to others and to assess potential job opportunities in light of them.
Read the full text of this blog post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a founding partner at Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants, a consulting practice that has specialized in helping clients enhance the effectiveness and value of hospital medicine programs.
Also on The Hospital Leader …
Don’t Compare HM Group Part B Costs Hospital to Hospital by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
Overcoming a Continued Physician Shortage by Danielle Scheurer, MD, MSCR, SFHM
Is Patient-Centered Care Bad for Resident Education? by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, MHM
Sneak Peek: The Hospital Leader Blog
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on “The Hospital Leader” blog. Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
In December, I wrote a letter to hospital executives, urging them to deliberately invest their own personal time and effort in fostering hospitalist well-being. I suggested several actions that leaders can take to enhance hospitalist job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout and turnover.
Following publication of that post, I heard from several hospital executives and was pleasantly surprised that they all responded positively to my message. Several execs told me that they gained valuable new insights about their hospitalists’ challenges and needs; others said they planned to take action on one or more of my suggestions that had never occurred to them before.
Their feedback reinforced my belief that most hospital leaders actually do care a lot about promoting healthy, stable, and sustainable hospitalist programs, but the hospital leaders I talked with also had some messages for their hospitalist colleagues, and I think it’s important to share them in the spirit of fostering a healthy exchange of perspectives. Your hospital’s leaders would be delighted and encouraged if you engaged them in dialogue about these issues.
Help us help you
Several hospital leaders told me that their hospitalists grumble about being treated by the medical staff (and even nurses) like second-class citizens or glorified residents. Those same hospitalists, however, routinely show up for work dressed in scrubs and tennis shoes rather than professional attire. They rarely come in early when it’s busy or invest more time than is absolutely needed to see the patients on their list, making it easy for others to dismiss them as shift workers.
Hospitalists, they say, are unwilling to come in on their own time to attend a medical staff meeting, something other doctors do as a matter of course. And instead of interacting as social peers with other physicians when opportunity arises (i.e., in the cafeteria or doctors’ lounge), the hospitalists just grab food and head back to eat together in their work room.
The executives said they want to help enhance the stature of their hospitalists within the medical staff, but the Here’s a typical comment:
“[Hospitalists] also need to be willing to participate in hospital and system committees. Although this may require them to interrupt their workflow and stay late on some days they are working or come in on days off, they will never garner the respect of their colleagues if they are unwilling to do so.”
Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a hospital medicine consultant and member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee.
Also on The Hospital Leader. . .
• Creating Value through Crowdsourcing & Finding ‘Value’ in the New Year, by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, FHM
• BREAKING NEWS: “Physicians Deemed Unnecessary”; Social Worker Promoted to Hospital CEO, by Jordan Messler, MD, SFHM
• ER Docs and Out-of-Network Billing: Are We in the Same Boat?, by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
• The Best Way to Die?, by David Brabeck, MD
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on “The Hospital Leader” blog. Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
In December, I wrote a letter to hospital executives, urging them to deliberately invest their own personal time and effort in fostering hospitalist well-being. I suggested several actions that leaders can take to enhance hospitalist job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout and turnover.
Following publication of that post, I heard from several hospital executives and was pleasantly surprised that they all responded positively to my message. Several execs told me that they gained valuable new insights about their hospitalists’ challenges and needs; others said they planned to take action on one or more of my suggestions that had never occurred to them before.
Their feedback reinforced my belief that most hospital leaders actually do care a lot about promoting healthy, stable, and sustainable hospitalist programs, but the hospital leaders I talked with also had some messages for their hospitalist colleagues, and I think it’s important to share them in the spirit of fostering a healthy exchange of perspectives. Your hospital’s leaders would be delighted and encouraged if you engaged them in dialogue about these issues.
Help us help you
Several hospital leaders told me that their hospitalists grumble about being treated by the medical staff (and even nurses) like second-class citizens or glorified residents. Those same hospitalists, however, routinely show up for work dressed in scrubs and tennis shoes rather than professional attire. They rarely come in early when it’s busy or invest more time than is absolutely needed to see the patients on their list, making it easy for others to dismiss them as shift workers.
Hospitalists, they say, are unwilling to come in on their own time to attend a medical staff meeting, something other doctors do as a matter of course. And instead of interacting as social peers with other physicians when opportunity arises (i.e., in the cafeteria or doctors’ lounge), the hospitalists just grab food and head back to eat together in their work room.
The executives said they want to help enhance the stature of their hospitalists within the medical staff, but the Here’s a typical comment:
“[Hospitalists] also need to be willing to participate in hospital and system committees. Although this may require them to interrupt their workflow and stay late on some days they are working or come in on days off, they will never garner the respect of their colleagues if they are unwilling to do so.”
Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a hospital medicine consultant and member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee.
Also on The Hospital Leader. . .
• Creating Value through Crowdsourcing & Finding ‘Value’ in the New Year, by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, FHM
• BREAKING NEWS: “Physicians Deemed Unnecessary”; Social Worker Promoted to Hospital CEO, by Jordan Messler, MD, SFHM
• ER Docs and Out-of-Network Billing: Are We in the Same Boat?, by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
• The Best Way to Die?, by David Brabeck, MD
Editor’s note: This article first appeared on “The Hospital Leader” blog. Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
In December, I wrote a letter to hospital executives, urging them to deliberately invest their own personal time and effort in fostering hospitalist well-being. I suggested several actions that leaders can take to enhance hospitalist job satisfaction and reduce the risk of burnout and turnover.
Following publication of that post, I heard from several hospital executives and was pleasantly surprised that they all responded positively to my message. Several execs told me that they gained valuable new insights about their hospitalists’ challenges and needs; others said they planned to take action on one or more of my suggestions that had never occurred to them before.
Their feedback reinforced my belief that most hospital leaders actually do care a lot about promoting healthy, stable, and sustainable hospitalist programs, but the hospital leaders I talked with also had some messages for their hospitalist colleagues, and I think it’s important to share them in the spirit of fostering a healthy exchange of perspectives. Your hospital’s leaders would be delighted and encouraged if you engaged them in dialogue about these issues.
Help us help you
Several hospital leaders told me that their hospitalists grumble about being treated by the medical staff (and even nurses) like second-class citizens or glorified residents. Those same hospitalists, however, routinely show up for work dressed in scrubs and tennis shoes rather than professional attire. They rarely come in early when it’s busy or invest more time than is absolutely needed to see the patients on their list, making it easy for others to dismiss them as shift workers.
Hospitalists, they say, are unwilling to come in on their own time to attend a medical staff meeting, something other doctors do as a matter of course. And instead of interacting as social peers with other physicians when opportunity arises (i.e., in the cafeteria or doctors’ lounge), the hospitalists just grab food and head back to eat together in their work room.
The executives said they want to help enhance the stature of their hospitalists within the medical staff, but the Here’s a typical comment:
“[Hospitalists] also need to be willing to participate in hospital and system committees. Although this may require them to interrupt their workflow and stay late on some days they are working or come in on days off, they will never garner the respect of their colleagues if they are unwilling to do so.”
Read the full post at hospitalleader.org.
Leslie Flores is a hospital medicine consultant and member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee.
Also on The Hospital Leader. . .
• Creating Value through Crowdsourcing & Finding ‘Value’ in the New Year, by Vineet Arora, MD, MPP, FHM
• BREAKING NEWS: “Physicians Deemed Unnecessary”; Social Worker Promoted to Hospital CEO, by Jordan Messler, MD, SFHM
• ER Docs and Out-of-Network Billing: Are We in the Same Boat?, by Brad Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM
• The Best Way to Die?, by David Brabeck, MD
Start Planning for State of Hospital Medicine Survey 2016
SHM’s practice analysis committee has geared up over the last month or two in preparation for January’s biannual State of Hospital Medicine survey. We’ve been reviewing topics included in the survey with an eye toward making sure the content stays relevant to what hospitalists and hospital leaders want to know. And we’ve been parsing the language and construction of each question with the goal of making it as clear as possible.
Once the committee finalizes the survey questions, it will be time for our intrepid SHM staffer Patrick Vulgamore, MPH, to build and test the survey instrument. At the same time, the committee will complete supporting materials like FAQs, the survey guide, and the communication plan.
But not all the work is on our side. There are a number of things that you can do now to begin preparing for your survey participation.
First, Commit to Participating
The survey is only as good as the number and quality of responses that we receive. We need everyone to participate, whether your hospital medicine group works in an academic or community setting, whether you serve adult or pediatric patients or both, and whether you are employed by a hospital/system, a management company, or a private group.
Go ask the leaders of your group whether they plan to participate, and lobby heavily to be part of the process. In addition to helping define the current state of hospital medicine, your group will also receive a free copy of the survey report.
Make a Plan
Your next step is to identify who will be responsible for pulling together the required information and completing the survey instrument. You’ll also want to be thinking now about where the various pieces of information you’ll need will come from. The survey includes topics such as scope of clinical practice, schedule, skill mix and work allocation, compensation methodology and benefits, CPT code distribution, and amount of financial support received. Then make sure you set aside time in the January-March period to complete the survey, and check to see that any necessary approvals have been obtained.
Look for Survey Communications in January 2016
The practice analysis committee tries hard to cover every possible communication avenue, but invariably people will say, “We didn’t know it was time for the survey.” So this is your heads up to be on the lookout for your survey invitation—in the regular mail, in both targeted and general emails, in The Hospitalist and other SHM publications, and on the SHM website.
Participate in the MGMA Survey, Too
The SoHM survey doesn’t include questions about individual provider productivity and compensation, but those are some of the most often looked for data points. Instead, SHM partners with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to encourage hospital medicine groups to participate in the MGMA compensation and production survey—which will be conducted concurrently with SHM’s survey for both academic and non-academic groups. SHM then licenses this information for inclusion in the SoHM report.
Full participation in the SHM survey process means not just completing SHM’s SoHM survey but also completing the applicable MGMA survey. This is the only way we can obtain robust information about trends in hospitalist compensation and productivity to share with you.
So don’t wait until January. Start working now to ensure your group is well positioned to contribute to what we learn about the state of hospital medicine!
Leslie Flores is a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee and a partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants.
SHM’s practice analysis committee has geared up over the last month or two in preparation for January’s biannual State of Hospital Medicine survey. We’ve been reviewing topics included in the survey with an eye toward making sure the content stays relevant to what hospitalists and hospital leaders want to know. And we’ve been parsing the language and construction of each question with the goal of making it as clear as possible.
Once the committee finalizes the survey questions, it will be time for our intrepid SHM staffer Patrick Vulgamore, MPH, to build and test the survey instrument. At the same time, the committee will complete supporting materials like FAQs, the survey guide, and the communication plan.
But not all the work is on our side. There are a number of things that you can do now to begin preparing for your survey participation.
First, Commit to Participating
The survey is only as good as the number and quality of responses that we receive. We need everyone to participate, whether your hospital medicine group works in an academic or community setting, whether you serve adult or pediatric patients or both, and whether you are employed by a hospital/system, a management company, or a private group.
Go ask the leaders of your group whether they plan to participate, and lobby heavily to be part of the process. In addition to helping define the current state of hospital medicine, your group will also receive a free copy of the survey report.
Make a Plan
Your next step is to identify who will be responsible for pulling together the required information and completing the survey instrument. You’ll also want to be thinking now about where the various pieces of information you’ll need will come from. The survey includes topics such as scope of clinical practice, schedule, skill mix and work allocation, compensation methodology and benefits, CPT code distribution, and amount of financial support received. Then make sure you set aside time in the January-March period to complete the survey, and check to see that any necessary approvals have been obtained.
Look for Survey Communications in January 2016
The practice analysis committee tries hard to cover every possible communication avenue, but invariably people will say, “We didn’t know it was time for the survey.” So this is your heads up to be on the lookout for your survey invitation—in the regular mail, in both targeted and general emails, in The Hospitalist and other SHM publications, and on the SHM website.
Participate in the MGMA Survey, Too
The SoHM survey doesn’t include questions about individual provider productivity and compensation, but those are some of the most often looked for data points. Instead, SHM partners with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to encourage hospital medicine groups to participate in the MGMA compensation and production survey—which will be conducted concurrently with SHM’s survey for both academic and non-academic groups. SHM then licenses this information for inclusion in the SoHM report.
Full participation in the SHM survey process means not just completing SHM’s SoHM survey but also completing the applicable MGMA survey. This is the only way we can obtain robust information about trends in hospitalist compensation and productivity to share with you.
So don’t wait until January. Start working now to ensure your group is well positioned to contribute to what we learn about the state of hospital medicine!
Leslie Flores is a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee and a partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants.
SHM’s practice analysis committee has geared up over the last month or two in preparation for January’s biannual State of Hospital Medicine survey. We’ve been reviewing topics included in the survey with an eye toward making sure the content stays relevant to what hospitalists and hospital leaders want to know. And we’ve been parsing the language and construction of each question with the goal of making it as clear as possible.
Once the committee finalizes the survey questions, it will be time for our intrepid SHM staffer Patrick Vulgamore, MPH, to build and test the survey instrument. At the same time, the committee will complete supporting materials like FAQs, the survey guide, and the communication plan.
But not all the work is on our side. There are a number of things that you can do now to begin preparing for your survey participation.
First, Commit to Participating
The survey is only as good as the number and quality of responses that we receive. We need everyone to participate, whether your hospital medicine group works in an academic or community setting, whether you serve adult or pediatric patients or both, and whether you are employed by a hospital/system, a management company, or a private group.
Go ask the leaders of your group whether they plan to participate, and lobby heavily to be part of the process. In addition to helping define the current state of hospital medicine, your group will also receive a free copy of the survey report.
Make a Plan
Your next step is to identify who will be responsible for pulling together the required information and completing the survey instrument. You’ll also want to be thinking now about where the various pieces of information you’ll need will come from. The survey includes topics such as scope of clinical practice, schedule, skill mix and work allocation, compensation methodology and benefits, CPT code distribution, and amount of financial support received. Then make sure you set aside time in the January-March period to complete the survey, and check to see that any necessary approvals have been obtained.
Look for Survey Communications in January 2016
The practice analysis committee tries hard to cover every possible communication avenue, but invariably people will say, “We didn’t know it was time for the survey.” So this is your heads up to be on the lookout for your survey invitation—in the regular mail, in both targeted and general emails, in The Hospitalist and other SHM publications, and on the SHM website.
Participate in the MGMA Survey, Too
The SoHM survey doesn’t include questions about individual provider productivity and compensation, but those are some of the most often looked for data points. Instead, SHM partners with the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) to encourage hospital medicine groups to participate in the MGMA compensation and production survey—which will be conducted concurrently with SHM’s survey for both academic and non-academic groups. SHM then licenses this information for inclusion in the SoHM report.
Full participation in the SHM survey process means not just completing SHM’s SoHM survey but also completing the applicable MGMA survey. This is the only way we can obtain robust information about trends in hospitalist compensation and productivity to share with you.
So don’t wait until January. Start working now to ensure your group is well positioned to contribute to what we learn about the state of hospital medicine!
Leslie Flores is a member of SHM’s Practice Analysis Committee and a partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants.
Five Reasons Hospitalists Should Participate in Compensation, Productivity Survey
Hospital budgets are tight, so your administrative time has been cut back. You’re pulling extra clinical shifts because of the busy flu season. You’re weeks away from going live on the new electronic health record system. And every spare minute is spent working on improving patient satisfaction scores or reducing readmissions. Investing a few hours in the 2014 State of Hospital Medicine survey is just not on your radar screen.
I realize it may be asking a lot, but I’d like to challenge you to step back and take a longer view. Here are five compelling reasons every hospitalist leader and administrator should participate in this year’s SHM survey and in the MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey.
Information You and Your Colleagues Will Use
Hospitalist groups all over the country, probably including yours, use information from SHM and MGMA surveys to benchmark compensation and productivity internally and to assess options related to scope of services, staffing and scheduling, and other structural parameters. If you don’t participate, your group’s data isn’t collected, depriving HM practices everywhere of the benefits of your group’s experience.
Be Prepared to Defend Your Group’s Performance
Other people who have influence over your practice are going to use this information to make judgments about how your group stacks up. It is in your interest to understand how the survey questions are worded and how the data is analyzed and presented. Participation offers firsthand insight into what information is actually being collected and reported, which can help you explain why your group’s results might be different. And the free copy of the survey you receive ensures you will have direct access to the information others are using to evaluate you.
Small Sample Sizes Bias the Results
It’s tempting to sit back and think there are plenty of others participating. But the more groups that participate, the more robust and representative the data will be. And with larger data sets, the data analysts have more options for “cutting” the data and reporting meaningful results for different subsets of the hospitalist universe. Your group’s data just might mean the difference between numbers and blanks in some of those tables.
A Valuable Way to “Give Back” to the Specialty
HM has been good to you. Even if you don’t have the time or opportunity to write, speak, serve on SHM committees, or otherwise move your specialty forward, one important way you can “give back” to the field is to help ensure high quality, representative survey results.
You Might Just Learn Something
Some of the information the survey asks for isn’t at your fingertips. You’re going to have to dig, and probably work with others, to obtain what you need. But in the process, you’re likely to learn something useful about your group’s performance that you didn’t know before, like your CPT code distribution or the amount of financial support you received. And, once you learn it, you’ll want to keep tracking it going forward.
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM, is partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants and an SHM Practice Analysis Committee member.
Hospital budgets are tight, so your administrative time has been cut back. You’re pulling extra clinical shifts because of the busy flu season. You’re weeks away from going live on the new electronic health record system. And every spare minute is spent working on improving patient satisfaction scores or reducing readmissions. Investing a few hours in the 2014 State of Hospital Medicine survey is just not on your radar screen.
I realize it may be asking a lot, but I’d like to challenge you to step back and take a longer view. Here are five compelling reasons every hospitalist leader and administrator should participate in this year’s SHM survey and in the MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey.
Information You and Your Colleagues Will Use
Hospitalist groups all over the country, probably including yours, use information from SHM and MGMA surveys to benchmark compensation and productivity internally and to assess options related to scope of services, staffing and scheduling, and other structural parameters. If you don’t participate, your group’s data isn’t collected, depriving HM practices everywhere of the benefits of your group’s experience.
Be Prepared to Defend Your Group’s Performance
Other people who have influence over your practice are going to use this information to make judgments about how your group stacks up. It is in your interest to understand how the survey questions are worded and how the data is analyzed and presented. Participation offers firsthand insight into what information is actually being collected and reported, which can help you explain why your group’s results might be different. And the free copy of the survey you receive ensures you will have direct access to the information others are using to evaluate you.
Small Sample Sizes Bias the Results
It’s tempting to sit back and think there are plenty of others participating. But the more groups that participate, the more robust and representative the data will be. And with larger data sets, the data analysts have more options for “cutting” the data and reporting meaningful results for different subsets of the hospitalist universe. Your group’s data just might mean the difference between numbers and blanks in some of those tables.
A Valuable Way to “Give Back” to the Specialty
HM has been good to you. Even if you don’t have the time or opportunity to write, speak, serve on SHM committees, or otherwise move your specialty forward, one important way you can “give back” to the field is to help ensure high quality, representative survey results.
You Might Just Learn Something
Some of the information the survey asks for isn’t at your fingertips. You’re going to have to dig, and probably work with others, to obtain what you need. But in the process, you’re likely to learn something useful about your group’s performance that you didn’t know before, like your CPT code distribution or the amount of financial support you received. And, once you learn it, you’ll want to keep tracking it going forward.
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM, is partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants and an SHM Practice Analysis Committee member.
Hospital budgets are tight, so your administrative time has been cut back. You’re pulling extra clinical shifts because of the busy flu season. You’re weeks away from going live on the new electronic health record system. And every spare minute is spent working on improving patient satisfaction scores or reducing readmissions. Investing a few hours in the 2014 State of Hospital Medicine survey is just not on your radar screen.
I realize it may be asking a lot, but I’d like to challenge you to step back and take a longer view. Here are five compelling reasons every hospitalist leader and administrator should participate in this year’s SHM survey and in the MGMA Physician Compensation and Production Survey.
Information You and Your Colleagues Will Use
Hospitalist groups all over the country, probably including yours, use information from SHM and MGMA surveys to benchmark compensation and productivity internally and to assess options related to scope of services, staffing and scheduling, and other structural parameters. If you don’t participate, your group’s data isn’t collected, depriving HM practices everywhere of the benefits of your group’s experience.
Be Prepared to Defend Your Group’s Performance
Other people who have influence over your practice are going to use this information to make judgments about how your group stacks up. It is in your interest to understand how the survey questions are worded and how the data is analyzed and presented. Participation offers firsthand insight into what information is actually being collected and reported, which can help you explain why your group’s results might be different. And the free copy of the survey you receive ensures you will have direct access to the information others are using to evaluate you.
Small Sample Sizes Bias the Results
It’s tempting to sit back and think there are plenty of others participating. But the more groups that participate, the more robust and representative the data will be. And with larger data sets, the data analysts have more options for “cutting” the data and reporting meaningful results for different subsets of the hospitalist universe. Your group’s data just might mean the difference between numbers and blanks in some of those tables.
A Valuable Way to “Give Back” to the Specialty
HM has been good to you. Even if you don’t have the time or opportunity to write, speak, serve on SHM committees, or otherwise move your specialty forward, one important way you can “give back” to the field is to help ensure high quality, representative survey results.
You Might Just Learn Something
Some of the information the survey asks for isn’t at your fingertips. You’re going to have to dig, and probably work with others, to obtain what you need. But in the process, you’re likely to learn something useful about your group’s performance that you didn’t know before, like your CPT code distribution or the amount of financial support you received. And, once you learn it, you’ll want to keep tracking it going forward.
Leslie Flores, MHA, SFHM, is partner in Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants and an SHM Practice Analysis Committee member.