The Academic Catalyst Group: A Tactical Framework for Working Groups to Enhance Clinician-Educator Academic Career Development.

ABSTRACT: Working groups have tremendous potential to contribute to the academic career development of early-career clinician-educators. These individuals may find themselves engaged in many different working spaces, including working groups or committees such as those found within specialty societies or professional organizations. Such working groups may be underrecognized opportunities for academic skill building and professional growth because they are often characterized as primarily service-oriented, citizenship, or administrative work. Working groups can use their natural cross-institutional collaborations for mentorship and externalization-2 key building blocks for academic success that frequently represent challenges for early-career clinician-educators. In this article, the authors review common challenges that early-career clinician-educators may encounter during their academic development and propose a 3-step tactical framework, the academic catalyst group, that working group leaders can apply to groups to purposefully enhance professional development for clinician-educators. The framework urges working group leaders and members to conceptualize and develop academic catalyst groups as communities of practice by (1) assembling with intention, (2) mining the mission, and (3) finding an easy win. This framework can inspire working group leaders to align their work with academic career development and ultimately foster career growth for all group members.

Financial Toxicity Order Set: Implementing a Simple Intervention to Better Connect Patients With Resources.

PURPOSE: Financial toxicity of cancer treatment is well described in the literature, including characterizations of its risk factors, manifestations, and consequences. There is, however, limited research on interventions, particularly those at the hospital level, to address the issue. METHODS: From March 1, 2019, to February 28, 2022, a multidisciplinary team conducted a three-cycle Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) process to develop, test, and implement an electronic medical record (EMR) order set to directly refer patients to a hospital-based financial assistance program. The cycles included an assessment of the efficacy of our current practice in connecting patients experiencing financial hardship with assistance, the development and piloting of the EMR referral order, and the broad implementation of the order set across our institution. RESULTS: In PDSA cycle 1, we found that approximately 25% of patients at our institution experienced some form of financial hardship, but most patients were not connected to available resources because of our referral mechanism. In PDSA cycle 2, the pilot referral order set was deemed feasible and received positive feedback. Over the 12-month study period (March 1, 2021-February 28, 2022) of PDSA cycle 3, 718 orders were placed for 670 unique patients across interdisciplinary providers from 55 treatment areas. These referrals resulted in at least $850,000 in US dollars (USD) in financial aid in 38 patients (mean = $22,368 USD). CONCLUSION: The findings from our three-cycle PDSA quality improvement project demonstrate the feasibility and efficacy of interdisciplinary efforts to develop a hospital-level financial toxicity intervention. A simple referral mechanism can empower providers to connect patients in need with available resources.

Top Qualifications Hospitalist Leaders Seek in Candidates: Results from a National Survey.

Despite rapidly growing interest in Hospital Medicine (HM), no prior research has examined the factors that may be most beneficial or detrimental to candidates during the HM hiring process. We developed a survey instrument to assess how those involved in the HM hiring process assess HM candidate attributes, skills and behaviors. The survey was distributed electronically to nontrainee physician Society of Hospital Medicine members. Respondents ranked the top five qualifications of HM candidates and the top five qualities an HM candidate should demonstrate on interview day to be considered for hiring. In thematic analysis of free-response questions, several themes emerged relating to interview techniques and recruitment strategies, including heterogeneous approaches to long-term versus short-term applicants. These findings represent the first published assessment in the area of HM hiring and should inform HM candidates and their mentors.

Perceived Safety and Value of Inpatient "Very Important Person" Services.

Providing care to "very important person" (VIP) patients can pose unique moral and value-based challenges for providers. No studies have examined VIP services in the inpatient setting. Through a multi-institutional survey of hospitalists, we assessed physician viewpoints and behavior surrounding the care of VIP patients. A significant proportion of respondents reported feeling pressured by patients, family members, and hospital representatives to provide unnecessary care to VIP patients. Based on self-reported perceptions, as well as case-based questions, we also found that the VIP status of a patient may impact physician clinical decision-making related to unnecessary medical care. Additional studies to quantify the use of VIP services and its effect on cost, resource availability, and patient-specific outcomes are needed. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2017;12:177-179.

Global payment contract attitudes and comprehension among internal medicine physicians.

OBJECTIVES: Global payment contracts (GPCs) are increasingly common agreements between insurance payers and healthcare providers that incorporate aspects of risk adjustment, capitation, and pay-for-performance. Physicians are often viewed as potential barriers to implementation of organizational change, but little is known about internist opinion on GPC involvement or specific internist attributes that might predict GPC support. We aimed to investigate internist and internal medicine subspecialist support of GPC involvement, and to identify associations among physician attributes, GPC knowledge, and GPC support. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional. METHODS: General medicine and internal medicine subspecialist physicians within the Beth Israel Deaconess Department of Medicine in Boston, Massachusetts, were surveyed 4 years after care organization entry into a GPC. Measurements collected included reported support for GPC involvement, reason for support, and demonstrated comprehension of key GPC details. RESULTS: Of the 281 respondents (49% response rate), 85% reported supporting involvement in a GPC. In a multivariate ordinal logistic regression model, exposure to prior information about GPCs, demonstrated comprehension of key GPC details, longer time since completion of residency, and lower clinical time commitment were all independently associated with higher levels of GPC involvement support. CONCLUSIONS: Four years since first engaging in a global payment contract, a majority of internal medicine physician respondents support this decision. Understanding predictors of physician support for GPC involvement within our care organization may help other health systems to approach organizational change. Health system leaders debating GPC involvement should consider engaging physicians via educational interventions geared toward improving GPC support.

Hospitalist and primary care physician perspectives on medication management of chronic conditions for hospitalized patients.

BACKGROUND: Little is currently known regarding physicians' opinions on the relative appropriateness of inpatient management of medical conditions unrelated to the reason for admission. OBJECTIVE: Investigate physician attitudes on the appropriateness of inpatient medication interventions, based on the interventions' relatedness to the reason for admission. DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS: Case-based survey of hospitalists and hospital-based primary care physicians at 3 academic medical centers in Boston, Massachusetts. METHODS: Physicians were emailed a survey consisting of 6 pairs of clinical cases. Each pair included 1 case with an inpatient management decision related to the reason for admission, followed by a case involving the same management decision but unrelated to the reason for admission. Respondents rated the appropriateness of the interventions, and results were compared based on the relatedness to the reason for admission and based on the respondents' primary role. RESULTS: Overall, 162 out of 295 providers (55%) responded to the survey. Physicians were significantly more likely to rate inpatient interventions as appropriate when they were related, compared to unrelated, to the reason for admission (78.9% vs 38.8%; P < 0.001). Primary care physicians were significantly more likely than hospitalists to feel that inpatient interventions were appropriate. (64.1% vs 52.1%, P < 0.001; relative risk: 1.3, 95% confidence interval: 1.1-1.4). CONCLUSION: Physicians are more likely to rate inpatient medication changes as appropriate when they are related to the reason for admission. Our results suggest that opportunities for meaningful medical interventions may be underutilized in current systems that adhere to a strict dichotomy of inpatient and outpatient roles.Medicine.

ACGME Duty Hour Revisions and Self-Reported Intern ICU Sleep Schedules.

BACKGROUND: The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education duty hour standards restrict continuous duty for postgraduate year (PGY)-1 residents to 16 hours. OBJECTIVE: We aimed to assess the relationship between a duty hour-compliant schedule and resident sleep. METHODS: To comply with 2011 duty hour limits, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center restructured its intensive care unit call model for internal medicine PGY-1 residents from a traditional shift model to an overlapping shorter-duration shift model with preserved educational periods. Before and after schedule changes, we used daily surveys of PGY-1 residents to collect self-reported data on quantity and quality of sleep and quality of education. RESULTS: A total of 1162 surveys were sent to 43 interns before scheduling changes, and 1305 were sent to 41 interns after the changes. Response rate was 31.2% (362 of 1161) before and 22.2% (290 of 1305) after. Before changes, 57.7% (209 of 362) reported receiving 6 hours or more of sleep in a 24-hour period compared to 72.4% (210 of 290) after the changes (adjusted relative risk, 1.33; 95% CI, 1.15-1.53), with an adjusted difference of 0.83 hours of sleep per 24 hours (95% CI, 0.28-1.38). After the intervention, on a 5-point Likert scale, residents reported higher quality of sleep (odds ratio [OR], 1.62; 95% CI, 1.01-2.60) and greater satisfaction with their education (OR, 2.59; 95% CI, 1.40-4.81). CONCLUSIONS: Following conversion to a duty hour-compliant model with preserved didactic time, PGY-1 residents reported minor increases in quantity and quality of sleep per 24-hour period, and increased satisfaction with the educational experience.

Comparison of electronic laboratory reports, administrative claims, and electronic health record data for acute viral hepatitis surveillance.

CONTEXT: Public health surveillance systems for acute hepatitis are limited: clinician reporting is insensitive and electronic laboratory reporting is nonspecific. Insurance claims and electronic health records are potential alternative sources. OBJECTIVE: To compare the utility of laboratory data, diagnosis codes, and electronic health record combination data (current and prior viral hepatitis studies, liver function tests, and diagnosis codes) for acute hepatitis A and B surveillance. DESIGN: Retrospective chart review. SETTING: Massachusetts ambulatory practice serving 350 000 patients per year. PARTICIPANTS: All patients seen between 1990 and 2008. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Sensitivity and positive predictive value of immunoglobulin M (IgM), International Classification of Disease-Ninth Revision (ICD-9) diagnosis codes, and combination electronic health record data for acute hepatitis A and B. RESULTS: During the study period, there were 111 patients with positive hepatitis A IgMs, 154 with acute hepatitis A ICD-9 codes, and 77 with positive IgM and elevated liver function tests. On review, 79 cases were confirmed. Sensitivity and positive predictive value were 100% and 71% (95% confidence interval, 62%-79%) for IgM, 94% (92%-100%) and 48% (40%-56%) for ICD-9 codes and 97% (92%-100%) and 100% (96%-100%) for combination electronic health record data. There were 14 patients with positive hepatitis B core IgMs, 2564 with acute hepatitis B ICD-9 codes, and 125 with suggestive combinations of electronic health record data. Acute hepatitis B was confirmed in 122 patients. Sensitivity and positive predictive value were 9.4% (5.2%-16%) and 86% (60%-98%) for hepatitis B core IgM, 73% (65%-80%) and 3.6% (2.9%-4.4%) for ICD-9 codes, and 96% (91%-99%) and 98% (94%-99%) for electronic health record data. CONCLUSIONS: Laboratory surveillance using IgM tests overestimates the burden of acute hepatitis A and underestimates the burden of acute hepatitis B. Claims data are subject to many false positives. Electronic health record data are both sensitive and predictive. Electronic health record-based surveillance systems merit development.