SHM Converge Meeting News Central
  • hospitalmedicine.org
  • #SHMConverge25
  • Daily Coverage
  • Awards
  • Special Events
  • Program
  • Previews
Topics
  • Daily Coverage
  • Awards
  • Special Events
  • Program
  • Previews
Resources
  • Featured Speakers
  • Advanced Learning Courses
  • Conference FAQs
  • Claiming CME and Other Credits
  • SHM Converge 2026
Twitter X icon Facebook iconInstagram iconLinkedIn icon
Feb 29th, 2024

Making the most of the bedside and beyond

Having the right skills is critical for success and satisfaction in hospital leadership roles.


Head shots of Aziz Ansari, DO, FAAHPM, FACP, SFHM Brian McGillen, MD, FACP, SFHM
Aziz Ansari, DO, FAAHPM, FACP, SFHM (left), and Brian McGillen, MD, FACP, SFHM

The role of the hospitalist is one that is constantly evolving within the hospital environment — especially given the economic realities of today’s health care systems. For hospitalists looking to become leaders, that can mean navigating an ever-changing landscape.

“Hospitals and health systems are under a lot of pressure financially,” said Brian McGillen, MD, FACP, SFHM, medical director of care transitions, patient management, and patient throughput at Penn State Health Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, Pennsylvania. “You have hospitals closing all across the country, but the population doesn’t close with them. The hospitals are still responsible for taking care of a growing number of patients in ever-expanding regions. Nobody really understands the pressures as they translate at the front lines like a hospitalist does.”

With hospital beds becoming more scarce, Dr. McGillen said hospitalist leaders need to have the skills to ensure that they, their hospitals, and their patients are getting the most use out of those beds. That includes skills like clinical documentation management.

“It’s making sure that what we’re charting and documenting in our notes is reflective of the care we’re actually providing,” he said. “Making sure that hospitalists are aware of the need for appropriate documentation to reflect the severity of the illness of the patients that we’re caring for and why that matters not just for the hospital’s overall bottom line, but for what’s actually happening at that unit level as well.”

Dr. McGillen, along with Aziz Ansari, DO, FAAHPM, FACP, SFHM, professor of medicine and associate chief medical officer in clinical optimization and revenue integrity at Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Illinois, will take a close look at clinical documentation management and other skills hospitalists will need to advance in the Advanced Learning Course, “Beyond the Bedside: Transforming Hospitalist Careers.”

Dr. McGillen said for hospitalists, their career needs to be about more than just the list of patients they are assigned to see every day.

“(They need to look at) ways that can actually be impactful to not just that list, but entire nursing units, hospitals themselves, if not entire regional health systems,” he said. “More and more, the need for hospitalists to do that comes directly from the fact that we understand what’s actually happening where the rubber meets the road.”

Another core skill a hospitalist needs is that of cultural humility — the ability to recognize their own biases and how those may affect their day-to-day decision making. Dr. Ansari said it’s critical to be able to navigate difficult circumstances and have difficult conversations while making sure you are aware of your own implicit biases.

“We don’t always realize it, but as leaders our implicit biases have a potential for clouding our judgment and causing us to jump to conclusions prematurely without taking all factors into account,” he said. “These tools are critical as your next step in entering the leadership realm, so you are better prepared to be successful, rather than just being thrown into leadership roles without appropriate training.”

Even if you don’t want to be a leader, Dr. Ansari said these skills are critical to the value of what a hospitalist provides within the hospital environment.

"A hospitalist incorporates all of these factors to provide more safe, efficient, and patient-centered care,” he said. “Every hospitalist is inherently a leader because you’re leading a multidisciplinary health care team that is looking to you for guidance — your care managers, your social workers, your therapists. You are the captain of that multidisciplinary team.”

Visit SHM Meeting News Central for more coverage.


Beyond the Bedside: Transforming Hospitalist Careers

Friday, April 12

1-5 p.m.

Interesting Stories
SHM Hill Day 2024: Working for you on Capitol Hill
From SHM
SHM Hill Day 2024: Working for you on Capitol Hill
Shining a Spotlight on National Hospitalist Day
From SHM
Shining a Spotlight on National Hospitalist Day
JHM’s Innovations Corner and Point Counterpoint
From SHM
JHM’s Innovations Corner and Point Counterpoint
More Content
Image of a woman leading a discussion at a round table.
Previews
SHM Converge 2025 introduces first roundtable discussions
Mar 13th, 2025
Head shot of Rachel Cyrus, MD, and Lakshmi Swaminathan, MD, MHSA, SFHM
Previews
Managing surges seamlessly
Mar 13th, 2025
Head shots of Gigi Liu, MD, MSc, Meltiady Issa, MD, MBA, FACP, SFHM, and Sharmila Tilak, MD
Previews
Stack your deck with an AI education
Mar 13th, 2025
Head shots of Keri Holmes-Maybank, MD, MSCR, SFHM, and Anna-Maria South, MD, FACP, FASAM
Previews
Treating patients with alcohol and substance use disorders
Mar 13th, 2025
Head shots of Daniel D. Dressler, MD, MSc, and Heather E. Nye, MD, PhD
Previews
Learning course to explore new guidelines, therapeutics
Mar 13th, 2025
Head shot of Catriona Herrop, MD, FACP, SFHM, and Smita Kalra, MD, FACP, SFHM
Previews
Taking charge of perioperative care
Mar 6th, 2024
Head shot of Christopher Whinney, MD, FACP, SFHM
Previews
Welcome to my MED-TED talk
Feb 29th, 2024
Head shot of Zhe Chen, MD
Previews
Artificial intelligence could be the real future of hospital medicine
Mar 7th, 2024
Head shot of Nirmish Shah, MD
Previews
Managing the most common issue in sickle cell patients
Feb 21st, 2023
Comedian Thom Tran
Previews
Laughing in the face of adversity
Feb 22nd, 2023
Head shot of Jocelyn Zee, DO, FAAFP, SFHM, and Alice Gallo De Moraes, MD
Previews
Knowing when to call for help — and how to manage when you can’t
Feb 20th, 2023
Head shots of Gopi Astik and Joanna Bonsall
Previews
Charting a path forward
Feb 20th, 2023
SHM Converge Meeting News Central
Twitter X icon Facebook iconInstagram iconLinkedIn icon

Society of Hospital Medicine
1500 Spring Garden, Suite 501
Philadelphia, PA 19130

Phone: 800-843-3360
Fax: 267-702-2690
[email protected]