Tools and Strategies for an Effective Hospitalist Program

Hospitals and physician practices across the country have turned to hospitalists to combat mounting financial pressures, increasing patient flow problems, and rising malpractice suits.

Unfortunately, finding the tools and resources to manage a program effectively can be a struggle. Until now . . .

A complete soup-to-nuts guide, Tools and Strategies for an Effective Hospitalist Program provides proven forms, schedules, and tools you need to effectively and efficiently run your hospitalist program. This is the resource you need for:

- Best practice advice from all types of hospitalist programs including academic medical centers, large community hospitals, and small rural facilities
- Field-tested procedures to help new hospitalist programs get started and help established programs improve current methods
- Easy-to-implement tools on CD-ROM that you can adapt and tailor to any new or existing hospitalist program
- Successful strategies to determine what types of operational data you need to manage a hospitalist program, which metrics should be captured, and more
- Sample schedules that can be tailored for any number of hospitalists at any facility
- Expert tips on how to assess the effectiveness of your hospitalist program through referring provider/specialist surveys
- Wide-ranging benchmarks to establish and run a successful hospitalist program
- Winning strategies for recruiting and retaining top hospitalists in a job-seekers' market
- And so much more!

A look inside . . .

30 TOOLS you can modify to meet your facility's needs! Below is a sample list.

- Implementing an electronic solution to schedule 24/7 shifts
- Four-hospitalist provider rotating call schedule [2 samples to compare!]
- Four-hospitalist provider block schedule
- Five-hospitalist block schedule [2 samples to compare!]
- Five-hospitalist seven days on/seven days off schedule
- Six-hospitalist seven days on/seven days off schedule
- Protocol for determining need for on-call backup
- New physician retention interview
- Orientation day-one and day-four checklists
- Hospitalist job description at a non-teaching hospital
- Hospitalist job description at an academic medical center with residents
- Referring physician satisfaction survey [3 samples to compare!]
- Nurse satisfaction survey [2 samples to compare!]
- Draft communication plan for developing a hospitalist program
- Letter to referring physicians announcing a new hospitalist program
- Draft communication plan for expanding a hospitalist program
- Letter to referring physician announcing the expansion of hospitalist program
- Patient satisfaction survey [2 samples to compare!]
- Patient-targeted hospitalist program brochure
- Departmental guidelines for hospitalist evaluation
- Hospitalist employee performance evaluation [2 samples to compare!]

Table of Contents at a Glance . . .

11 Critical TOPICS covered to help you develop the most effective hospitalist program!

- Expectations for Hospitalists
- Staffing, Scheduling, and Planning
- Recruitment
- Retention and Orientation
- The Referring Provider's Perspective
- Communication with Healthcare Practitioners
- Communication with Patients
- Hospitalist Performance Reviews
- Quality Improvement and Data Collection
- Preprinted Ordersets
- Coding and Compliance for the Inpatient Physician