Abstract and Introduction
Abstract
Given the growing field of Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) and the need to define strategic direction, the Society of Hospital Medicine, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Academic Pediatric Association sponsored a roundtable to discuss the future of the field. Twenty-one leaders were invited plus a facilitator utilizing established health care strategic planning methods. A "vision statement" was developed. Specific initiatives in 4 domains (clinical practice, quality of care, research, and workforce) were identified that would advance PHM with a plan to complete each initiative. Review of the current issues demonstrated gaps between the current state of affairs and the full vision of the potential impact of PHM. Clinical initiatives were to develop an educational plan supporting the PHM Core Competencies and a clinical practice monitoring dashboard template. Quality initiatives included an environmental assessment of PHM participation on key committees, societies, and agencies to ensure appropriate PHM representation. Three QI collaboratives are underway. A Research Leadership Task Force was created and the Pediatric Research in Inpatient Settings (PRIS) network was refocused, defining a strategic framework for PRIS, and developing a funding strategy. Workforce initiatives were to develop a descriptive statement that can be used by any PHM physician, a communications tool describing "value added" of PHM; and a tool to assess career satisfaction among PHM physicians. We believe the Roundtable was successful in describing the current state of PHM and laying a course for the near future.
Introduction
Hospitalists are the fastest growing segment of physicians in the United States. Given the growing field of Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) and the need to define strategic direction, the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the Academic Pediatric Association (APA) sponsored a strategic planning meeting in February 2009 that brought together 22 PHM leaders to discuss the future of the field.
PHM is at a critical juncture in terms of clinical practice, research, workforce issues, and quality improvement. The field has developed sufficiently to produce leaders capable of setting an agenda and moving forward. A discussion with the American Board of Pediatrics (ABP) by PHM leaders from the AAP, APA, and SHM at the Pediatric Hospital Medicine 2007 Conference regarding subspecialty designation stimulated convening the PHM Strategic Planning Roundtable to address the task of coordinating further development of PHM (Table 1).
The objective of this article is to describe: (1) the Strategic Planning Roundtable's vision for the field of pediatric hospital medicine; (2) the generation and progress on specific initiatives in clinical practice, quality, research, and workforce identified by the Strategic Planning Roundtable; and (3) issues in the designation of PHM as a subspecialty.