PRE-COURSES | Sunday, March 29, 2026
ATTEND AN HM15 PRE-COURSE AND ENRICH YOUR EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE AT HOSPITAL MEDICINE 2015.
Engaging Pre-Courses Provide a Day of Intensive Learning.
Learn from expert faculty, earn additional CME credits, broaden your skills and fine tune your practice. Choose from seven available Pre-Courses offering specialized sessions, evidence-based review, emerging trends and hands-on sessions. Seize the opportunity to learn from an elite group of experts.
Immerse yourself in a day of learning by enrolling in one of the following:
- Enhancing Communication Skills to Improve the Patient and Provider Experience
- Practice Management Pre-Course: Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Managing in the Era of Healthcare Reform
- Perioperative Medicine: Basics to Innovations
- Building a QI Toolbox: Integrating SHM and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Resources
- Medical Procedures for the Hospitalist
- ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Facilitated Modules
- Point-of-Care Ultrasound for the Hospitalist
*Please Note: HM15 is going “GREEN”! There will be no Pre-Course binders distributed onsite. All Pre-Course materials will be located in the upgraded HM15 at Hand app. SHM encourages you to bring your laptop, tablet or smartphone to the session in order to access course materials.
Enhancing Communication Skills to Improve the Patient and Provider Experience
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Diane Sliwka, MD
University of California San Francisco Medical Center
Adrienne Boissy, MD, MA
Cleveland Clinic Mellen Center for MS
Course Overview
Patient and provider experience have become a high priority nationally with increased attention on satisfaction scores through the hospital value based purchasing program. Better self-efficacy in communication with patients is associated with improvement in both patient and provider experience. In this highly interactive skill development workshop, this course introduces learners to the relevance of improving communication as a core strategy for provider engagement, provides practical communication skill development and shares implementation experiences of communication skills training experts at programs across the country. Learners will be given tool kits and resources to make content easily transportable to their own organizations.
Objectives
- Describe how enhancing communication skills enhances patient/provider experience
- Demonstrate fundamental communication skills including effective opening of an interview, information gathering and plan negotiation
- Apply these fundamental skills to challenging patient encounters
Faculty:
Calvin Chou, MD, PhD
University of California, San Francisco
Facilitators:
Jeff Critchfield, MD
University of California, San Francisco
Suparna Dutta
Rush University Medical Center
Sandra Gage, MD, PhD, FAAP
Medical College of Wisconsin
Aaron C. Hamilton, MD, MBA, FACP
Cleveland Clinic
Nathan Houchens, MD
Cleveland Clinic
Patrick Kneeland, MD
University of Colorado
Kimberly Manning, MD
Emory University School of Medicine
Julie Jackson Murphy
Virginia Medical Center
Vicente Velez, MD
Cleveland Clinic
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Enhancing Communication Skills to Improve the Patient and Provider Experience for a maximum of 7.5 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Practice Management Pre-Course: Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Managing in the Era of Healthcare Reform
8:30 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Optional Early-Bird Session: Practice Management Basics,
7:00 – 8:15 a.m.*
John Nelson, MD, MHM
Overlake Hospital Medical Center Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants
Leslie A. Flores, MHA
Nelson Flores Hospital Medicine Consultants
Practice Management, Society of Hospital Medicine
Course Description
The Affordable Care Act and other healthcare reform initiatives are rapidly and dramatically altering the landscape in which hospitalists practice, and what it means to be a high-functioning hospital medicine group. Hospitalist program leaders face fresh challenges daily, whether it’s satisfying new stakeholders, expanding their influence within – or even beyond – the four walls of the hospital, or simply doing a lot more with fewer resources.
Replicating the framework of the highly successful HM14 course, this course focuses on practical strategies to position hospitalist programs for success in an environment in which quality matters more than quantity, and helping to reduce waste is just as important as helping to improve quality. The course will include updated and expanded content to address recent changes in the external environment, newly identified innovations and best practices and information geared toward pediatric hospital medicine practices.
In addition to long-time course co-director John Nelson MD, MHM, the expert faculty includes SHM past President Eric Howell MD, SFHM, and SHM co-founder Winthrop Whitcomb MD, MHM. These outstanding speakers will offer timely perspectives and will describe concrete, actionable “best practice” ideas that are already being applied in other settings. The course includes significant time for interaction with the faculty and fellow attendees, and each session will conclude with participants developing a brief action plan to implement upon returning home to their practices.
An optional “Early Bird” bonus session on practice management basics will be offered during the breakfast hour prior to the Pre-Course. Geared toward those who are either new to hospital medicine or are starting a new program, this session will provide an overview of hospitalist program organization, including staffing, scheduling and compensation principles.
Objectives
- Describe key features of healthcare reform and develop a concrete plan for addressing high-impact areas such as value-based purchasing, care transitions, and hospital-acquired conditions.
- Implement financially sustainable changes in staffing, skill mix and care delivery models to optimize performance.
- Develop effective strategies for aligning hospitalist incentives with organization and system-level goals.
- Describe the hospitalist value equation and take action to both enhance the benefits your program delivers and to effectively manage costs.
- Achieve greater clinical integration between hospitalists and other healthcare providers across the care continuum.
Faculty:
Eric E. Howell, MD, SFHM
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Winthrop Whitcomb, MD, MHM
Baystate Medical Center
* This optional (non-CME) session is designed to provide leaders who are newly involved with hospital medicine with a high-level overview of the basics of hospital medicine program organization, staffing, scheduling and compensation. This session is available only to individuals registered for the Pre-Course.
View Pre-Course Faculty Biographies
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Managing in the Era of the Healthcare Reform for a maximum of 8.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Perioperative Medicine: Basics to Innovations
8:00 a.m. – 5:00 p.m.
Leonard Feldman, MD, FAAP, FACP, SFHM
Johns Hopkins Hospital
Barbara Slawski, MD, MS, FACP
Medical College of Wisconsin
Course Overview
Perioperative and consultative medicine questions challenge hospitalists on a daily basis. This hospitalist core competency seems to grow more complex on a daily basis and yet many physicians were not even taught the basics in residency. Furthermore, the basics are likely to change this year as the 2014 ACC/AHA Guideline on Perioperative Cardiovascular Evaluation and Care for Noncardiac Surgery are expected to be released before HM15. Join your colleagues in tackling the basics as well as the innovations in perioperative medicine in this interactive and entertaining Pre-Course. Learners of all levels will benefit from this experience.
Objectives
- Summarize the approach to the perioperative evaluation.
- Appraise the risks and benefits of common perioperative risk reduction techniques.
- Manage patients in the perioperative setting with common and uncommon medical co-morbidities.
Faculty:
Daniel Brotman, MD, FACP, SFHM
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Steven Cohn, MD, FACP
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Kurt Pfeifer, MD
Medical College of Wisconsin
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Perioperative Medicine: Basics to Innovations for a maximum of 7.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Building a QI Toolbox: Integrating SHM and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Resources
8:30 a.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Mangla S. Gulati, MD, FACP, SFHM
University of Maryland Medical Center
Peter J. Kaboli, MD, MS, FACP, FHM
Center for Comprehensive Access and Delivery Research and Evaluation (CADRE) at the Iowa City VAMC
Course Overview
Attendees will learn about both introductory and advanced QI methods to apply to local QI efforts. A key objective will be to teach attendees about the ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) process to navigate a Practice Improvement Module (PIM) using either locally driven QI efforts or participation in national collaboratives. SHM, IHI, and ABIM resources will be reviewed.
Using interactive presentations alternating with a small group, mentor guided, workshop format, participants will build skills to:
- Identify resources for QI tools to be used in local practice
- Develop fluency in advanced QI methods
- Identify local education needs for QI and become familiar with existing curricula
Faculty:
Emily Cohen, MD, PhD
VA Medical Center, White River Junction, Vermont
Kedar Mate, MD
Institute for Healthcare Improvement
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Building a QI Toolbox: Integrating SHM and Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) Resources for a maximum of 8.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity
Medical Procedures for the Hospitalist
7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Sally Wang, MD, FHM
Harvard Medical School
Joseph Esherick, MD, FAAFP, FHM
David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles
Course Overview
Using an integrated curriculum that involves didactic sessions and hands-on training, participants will learn, review and demonstrate best practice techniques for the most common medical procedures hospitalists perform in the inpatient setting. Topics include vascular access, paracentesis, thoracentesis, lumbar puncture, intubation and a number of other medical procedures. The use of ultrasound for procedural guidance will also be introduced, practiced and emphasized. The course has an optimal faculty-to-participant ratio that will maximize your learning experience, and cutting-edge ultrasound machines to enhance your experience while you practice your skills on non-human tissue models and simulators.
NOTE: To maximize your learning experience, it is recommended (but not required) that this course be coupled with the “Portable Ultrasound for the Hospitalist” Pre-Course.
Objectives
- Describe and demonstrate the proper techniques for performing invasive procedures.
- Explain how and when to apply the use of real-time ultrasound guidance for invasive procedures.
- Understand the elements required to establish wide sterile barriers for sterile procedures and to utilize proper sharps-safety techniques.
Faculty:
Mark J. Ault, MD, FACEP
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Jeffrey Barsuk, MD, MS, FHM
Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
Joshua Lenchus, DO, RPh, FACP, SFHM
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Faculty Trainers:
Brian W. Ault, DO
Good Samaritan Hospital Medical Center
Weijen W. Chang, MD, FAAP, SFHM
University of California, San Diego
Ketino Kobaidze, MD, PhD, FHM
Emory University School of Medicine
Martin Perez, MD
St. Joseph Medical Center Houston
David Lichtman, PA
Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine
Kristin Wise, MD, FHM
Medical University of South Carolina
Ryoko Tanabe, NP
Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
Sophia Chu Rodgers, ACNP, FNP, FCCM, FAANP
University of New Mexico, Sandoval Regional Medical Center
Joshua Rosenberg, DO
Apogee
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Medical Procedures for the Hospitalist for a maximum of 4.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Facilitated Modules
7:45 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Ethan Cumbler, MD, FACP, FHM
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Course Overview
SHM is collaborating with the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) to offer hospitalists an opportunity to participate in Maintenance of Certification (MOC) learning sessions with expert facilitators. In interactive group sessions, this Pre-Course will lead ABIM-certified physicians through two learning modules, which can be applied later to earn up to 20 points toward the Self-Evaluation of Medical Knowledge requirement of the MOC program. Two of the latest modules will be presented including SHM’s Internal Medicine–Quality Improvement and Patient Safety and ABIM’s Update in Hospital-Based Internal Medicine. Attendees will discuss the Recognition of Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine and changes in the MOC process. The ABIM now requires MOC activity every two years. Satisfy your MOC needs with your peers in this engaging educational program.
Objectives
- Analyze the questions and through group discussion, determine the correct answers and rationales for these ABIM modules.
- Through this process become familiar with the terminology and methods in quality improvement and patient safety and apply recent literature in hospital medicine to clinical practice.
- Complete two Self-Evaluation of Medical Knowledge modules to facilitate earning points toward ABIM’s MOC requirements.
- Navigate the ABIM Board recertification process with respect to Focused Practice in Hospital Medicine certification.
Faculty:
Leigh Vaughan, MD
Medical University of South Carolina
Brian Harte, MD, SFHM
Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine at Case Western Reserve University
Read Pierce, MD
University of Colorado School of Medicine
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity ABIM Maintenance of Certification (MOC) Facilitated Modules for a maximum of 7.25 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
Point-of-Care Ultrasound for the Hospitalist
7:30 a.m. – 12:30 p.m.; 1:00 – 6:00 p.m.
Nilam Soni, MD, FACP, FHM
University of Texas Health Science Center, San Antonio, Texas
Ricardo Franco, MD
John H. Stroger, Jr. Hospital of Cook County
Course Overview
Point-of-care ultrasonography has become an indispensable bedside tool for evaluation of acutely ill patients as ultrasound machines have become less expensive and more portable. Being on the front line of patient care, it is essential that hospitalists learn how to capably apply point-of-care ultrasound in the management of patients. This Pre-Course uses a combination of high-yield didactic sessions and hands-on training to reveal an entirely new way of looking at patients through the lens of ultrasound. The course starts with a review of the basics of ultrasound technology and then dives into its myriad applications for diagnostic purposes. Essential maneuvers such as basic cardiac evaluation; scanning for pleural effusions, pneumothoraces, and ascites; evaluation for lower extremity deep venous thrombosis; and abdominal organ imaging are all elucidated in an interactive atmosphere highly conducive to learning. Participants will experience low participant-to-trainer ratios and many live models to practice imaging techniques. The course employs cutting-edge equipment and is led by expert faculty gathered from across the country.
Objectives
- Appreciate the basics of ultrasound physics and technology and the fundamentals to operate a portable ultrasound machine (“knobology”).
- Differentiate between the different types of ultrasound transducers and select the correct transducer type for various point-of-care applications.
- Demonstrate proper techniques to perform a focused cardiac and lung ultrasound exam and recognize common thoracic pathologies by interpreting abnormal thoracic ultrasound images.
- Visualize the normal sonographic appearance of abdominal solid organs and neck and lower extremity vasculature, and recognize gross pathologies by interpreting a series of abnormal ultrasound images.
Faculty:
Anjali Bhagra, MBBS
Mayo Clinic
Daniel Schnobrich, MD
University of Minnesota
Kirk Spencer, MD
University of Chicago
Faculty Trainers:
Carolina Candotti, MD
Penn State Hershey Medical Center
Ria Dancel, MD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Saaid Abdel-Ghani, MD
The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Venkat Kalidindi MD, FHM
University of Miami Miller School of Medicine
Carin Lodell
Cardiac Study Center
Benji K. Mathews, MD
HealthPartners & University of Minnesota Medical School
Alycia P. Lee, BS, RVT, RDCS
George Washington University
Nitin Puri, MD
Virginia Commonwealth University
Inova Fairfax Hospital
Gerard Salame
University of Colorado
Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint providership of Blackwell Futura Media Services and Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity Point-of-Care Ultrasound for the Hospitalist for a maximum of 4.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.
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