Hospital Medicine and Perioperative Care: A Framework for High-Quality, High-Value Collaborative Care.

BACKGROUND: Hospitalists have long been involved in optimizing perioperative care for medically complex patients. In 2015, the Society of Hospital Medicine organized the Perioperative Care Work Group to summarize this experience and to develop a framework for providing optimal perioperative care. METHODS: The work group, which consisted of perioperative care experts from institutions throughout the United States, reviewed current hospitalist-based perioperative care programs, compiled key issues in each perioperative phase, and developed a framework to highlight essential elements to be considered. The framework was reviewed and approved by the board of the Society of Hospital Medicine. RESULTS: The Perioperative Care Matrix for Inpatient Surgeries was developed. This matrix characterizes perioperative phases, coordination, and metrics of success. Additionally, concerns and potential risks were tabulated. Key questions regarding program effectiveness were drafted, and examples of models of care were provided. CONCLUSIONS: The Perioperative Care Matrix for Inpatient Surgeries provides an essential collaborative framework hospitalists can use to develop and continually improve perioperative care programs. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:277-282.

Patient Safety and Quality Metrics in Pediatric Hospital Medicine.

Quality-based regulations, performance-based payouts, and open reporting have contributed to a growing focus on quality and safety metrics in health care. Medical errors are a well-known catastrophe in the field. Especially disturbing are estimates of pediatric safety issues, which hold a stronger capacity to cause serious issues than those found in adults. This article presents information collected in the past 2 decades pertaining to the issue of quality, and describes a preliminary list of potential solutions and methods of implementation. The beginning stages of a reconstructive journey of safety and quality in a Michigan pediatric hospital is introduced and discussed.