Engaging physicians in quality improvement and patient safety is a challenge. Can hospitalists help? Not only are they natural participants for inpatient quality improvement teams, but they can also be just the catalyst your organization needs. This session will describe the responsibilities of hospitalists and how to leverage their role in inpatient care to improve quality and safety.

      After this presentation you will be able to:

• Describe the role of physicians in chronic disease management in the inpatient care setting.
• Outline the clinical and non-clinical duties of hospitalists, and compare the hospitalist role with criteria for Magnet Status.
• Discuss the recent national data on the growth and shape of hospital medicine as the newest medical specialty.
• Detail published hospital medicine competencies (and expectations) for health care quality and safety.