PHILADELPHIA, March 2 /PRNewswire/ -- More than 1,000 hospitalists and healthcare providers from around the country will gather in Washington, D.C., May 3-5, for the ninth annual meeting of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM). Entitled: "Hospital Medicine 2006: Setting the Standard," the meeting will provide a forum for in-depth review, discussion and training regarding the impact hospitalists are having on patient care, quality of care in the hospital setting, quality improvement, and the future of hospital medicine.
Keynote speakers at the meeting include some of healthcare's most distinguished change agents: Carolyn Clancy, CEO, Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and Jack Rowe, M.D., CEO, Aetna, Inc. Additionally, the meeting will feature the nation's top thought leaders, researchers, academicians and practitioners in the specialty of hospital medicine.
The meeting will offer six educational tracks, allowing hospitalists the opportunity to attend workshops in the areas of adult clinical medicine, pediatric clinical care, quality, operations, academic medicine and developmental and career challenges. Other highlights of the meeting include the presentation of SHM's 2006 National Awards of Excellence and the installation of SHM's 2006 board members and officers.
Prior to the start of the conference, SHM will feature its first-ever legislative advocacy day, providing members an opportunity to meet with their congressional representatives to discuss legislative initiatives impacting hospital care and patient safety. Concurrently, SHM will offer a full day of pre-courses for continuing medical education credit. These courses include: "Best Practices in Managing a Hospital Medicine Program," "Critical Care Medicine for the Hospitalist," "Perioperative and Consultative Medicine," and "High-Impact Quality Improvement: How to Ensure a Successful Project."
The Society of Hospital Medicine is the premier medical society representing hospitalists, physicians whose primary focus is the care of hospitalized patients. Over the past few years, research studies proving that hospitalists decrease patient lengths of stay, hospital costs and patient mortality rates while increasing patient satisfaction, have galvanized the hospital medicine profession and spurred demand for hospitalists nationwide. Currently, hospital medicine is the fastest-growing medical specialty in the U.S., with today's 15,000 hospitalists projected to grow to about 30,000 by the end of the decade. For more information about SHM or the SHM annual meeting, visit the Web site at www.hospitalmedicine.org. To register for the meeting, call 800-843-3360 or 215-351-2742. Registration must be completed by April 3, 2006.
Society of Hospital MedicineCONTACT: Lisa Freeman, +1-818-597-8453, lisaf@kevinross.net, for Societyof Hospital Medicine
Web site: http://www.hospitalmedicine.org/
