If a Hospital Medicine (HM) group is truly committed to maximizing the clinical and financial success of a hospital, then a commitment to training and education is essential. That training and education must go farther than what too many HM groups only offer: a training manual and free CME courses. Although both of these are nice, they should only be the tip of the iceberg. That’s why
HospitalMD has developed a training program for our physicians designed to effectively and systematically approach all aspects of providing superior HM services to our clients.
We realized early on that we needed to provide continuous training and education for our physicians to thrive in both of these areas.
The repetitive rigor and “see one, do one” of medical residency training produces physicians with similar and fundamentally sound clinical and medical knowledge. This knowledge allows them to provide the clinical care necessary to perform their job, but it does not necessarily prepare them for the business side of medicine. The importance of a physician not only demonstrating clinical expertise, but an understanding of the business of medicine, is instrumental to
HospitalMD’s success. We realized early on that we needed to provide continuous training and education for our physicians to thrive in both of these areas.
Our Approach
Each HMD physician goes through a structured orientation process to teach them how to practice the “
HospitalMD way” before the physician’s first shift. This orientation includes a site visit to acclimate them to the departments and services of the hospital as well as specific training by the Medical Director and Clinical Consultant. This orientation process is designed to not only allow the physician to be successful on their first shift, but to also be the foundation of their future training. They do receive a
HospitalMD manual that most groups provide; the difference is it will not collect dust on a shelf with us!
Regardless of how thorough an orientation process is, or whether a physician signs off that they understand everything that was presented to them, the reality is most people will not retain all the information given to them in the manual. Unfortunately for many hospitals, this is the end of the training their Hospitalist physicians receive from the current HM group. This is not the case for
HospitalMD clients!
Each new physician is monitored closely over the first 90 days. We are collecting the data needed to provide an individualized training plan for each physician. We look at everything from LOS, EMR efficiency, documentation, customer service, admitting diagnoses, and more. During that time the Medical Director and/or Clinical Consultant will be present with the physician on some shifts to personally monitor and provide coaching. After 90 days, we have a formal meeting with the physician and present all the data collected for them specifically, as well as for the average of the group. This tangible data helps the physician understand any areas of need for improvement as well as recognize the areas that are meeting or exceeding expectations. As areas of improvement are identified, we work with the physician to outline a plan of action for improvement, provide them with the resources necessary to achieve the improvement, and set up guidelines for monitoring and reporting the data. This systematic approach to each new
HospitalMD physician allows us to set and monitor expectations while providing a consistent level of service to our clients.
Continued Support
A physician that feels a part of the team is instrumental to creating the alignment between the hospital and physician that is needed to maximize clinical and financial success!
Starting off on the right foot is important, but so is each step that follows. Our physicians participate in monthly conference calls with our Medical Director and Clinical Consultants to discuss all relevant topics. We provide and discuss reports identifying performance data for the group and each physician, and collectively discuss any ideas that can benefit our service to the patients and hospital. These meetings are mandatory and provide an opportunity for our physicians to truly feel they are a part of a group practice while providing solutions to improve the services they provide. A physician that feels a part of the team is instrumental to creating the alignment between the hospital and physician that is needed to maximize clinical and financial success!
Although you will see our Clinical Consultant on site each month that is not the only time they are providing additional training and education. We utilize ongoing internet-based training courses aimed at clinical protocols, medical necessity and clinical documentation, and individual improvement tailored to his/her needs based on audits of their clinical charts and satisfaction reports.
In addition to the training and education we provide to our physicians, we offer any of our training classes to our clients that they find appropriate. Often times our clients will have us provide training to their nursing staff on topics ranging from customer service to admission criteria. We have worked with our clients to provide documentation education for medical necessity, RAC audits, and admission vs. observation criteria. If we have information that our clients believe will be of benefit to their staff, we feel it’s our obligation to provide the information at no additional cost!
HospitalMD’s commitment to training and education continues to set us apart by providing physicians that are continually engaged in improving the care of the patients, maximizing our client’s clinical and financial success! It’s one of the many reasons that both our clients and our physicians develop long lasting relationships with
HospitalMD!
Contact us today to learn more!
