SOGH September 2017 Newsletter 

PRESIDENT'S MESSAGE

The lead news item for this month is the announcement of agreement by Consultare Partners to continue providing management services for SOGH.  This means that Toni Capra as Executive Director will carry through her duties at the Annual Clinical Meeting.  She also will support the initiation of our strategic plan which is being led by Tanner Colegrove, our President Elect. With the support of Janet Burkard, membership operations will flow seamlessly into 2018.

Now for a somewhat bothersome but true anecdote:

Recently a hospitalist was awakened from a deep post-call sleep at home by the unexpected ringing of the front doorbell. On the porch was a patient who had located the doctor’s residential address through an internet search. The patient had come to ask about her hospital experience. The encounter was resolved with the patient being given information on how to obtain her medical records from the hospital.

• Accurate contact information for follow up should be made available to the patient at the time of discharge. 

• Outpatient follow-up resources from inpatient encounters would ideally include a communication mechanism between the two providers. 

• Hospitalists should consider possible mechanisms for participation in post-hospital care after notification by the follow-up provider. 

• Recognizing that mental reaction to a totally unexpected challenge is different from ordinary thought, one might react to such situations by use of a familiar checklist; as would be done in a car accident. 

• Provider safety is important even outside the hospital. Effective precautions for safeguarding providers’ personal contact information are best made before experiencing an adverse event.

Continuing on the subject of an individual hospitalist’s wellbeing, one must realistically acknowledge variations in sleep patterns and the stress that accompany a hospitalist’s professional life. When accommodations are made incrementally over a period of time, manifestations of prolonged stress might not be readily perceived. To help in recognition, one could use the self-assessment form here. Excessive and/or rapidly increasing stress might indicate need for assistance. Hospital and medical society physicians’ health committees could be among appropriate choices for help. Of relevance is a session, “Managing Stress, Building Resilience: The Imperative of Self-Care for Health Professionals" at our ACM on Tuesday, September 26^th, 2017.

Two links for self-help are: 

Medical Student Stress & Burn Out

10 Tips for Conquering Stress

Ending my last President’s Message, I would like to thank all of the individual members of SOGH for allowing me the opportunity to serve.

With Gratitude and Best Regards,