UNMC has established a Section of Hospital Medicine to meet the growing demands of better outcomes and experiences for hospitalized patients.
The hospitalist teams
Four services make up the Section of Hospital Medicine:
- Grissom team led by Sarah Richards, M.D., includes attending physicians, advanced practice providers, and residents.
- Meyer team led by Trek Langenhan, M.D., includes attending physicians, advanced practice providers, residents, and medical students.
- Loomis team led by Natalie Crump, M.B.B.S., a team of attending physicians and advanced practice providers.
- Co-management team led by Michael Smith, M.D., a team providing medically complex patient care including orthopedic and neurosurgery. In the fall it will expand to include medical oncology.
Since the 1980s, hospital medicine has emerged as the fastest growing medical specialty in the United States. When the term hospitalist was coined in 1996, there were 100 providers who identified as hospitalists. Today there are more than 50,000.
Rachel Thompson, M.D., was recruited to head the new Section of Hospital Medicine in the UNMC Division of General Internal Medicine. She is associate professor, chief of the section and medical director for Clinical Care Transitions at Nebraska Medicine.
“Providing inpatient care and partnering with hospital systems to improve quality and value are core disciplines of hospital medicine,” said Dr. Thompson, who previously served at the University of Washington as director of the Harborview Medical Center Medicine Consult Service and co-director of the Enhanced Perioperative Care Program.
Hospitalists have been serving at Nebraska Medicine since early 2003 with Julie Fedderson, M.D., as the first hospitalist. There currently are 23 physicians and nine nurse practitioners. Another eight physicians and seven nurse practitioners will join the section this summer.
“We will be actively engaged as a team, looking for ways to best support improvements in care. We also look forward to building robust programs in curricular development and outcomes research,” Dr. Thompson said.
Debra Romberger, M.D., Henry J. Lehnhoff Professor and chair, UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, said the practice of medicine by hospitalists is a rapidly growing field across the country and at Nebraska Medicine.
“We were looking for a leader in hospitalist medicine who could help us be strategic in our growth as well as help us achieve the best patient care outcomes, educational venues for trainees, and contribute to new knowledge in this area. Dr. Thompson has a superb background and has hit the ground running with new ideas,” said Dr. Romberger.
Dr. Thompson has appointed an executive leadership team which includes: Sarah Richards, M.D., director of patient and provider experience; Chad Vokoun, M.D., director of education; Kelly Caverzagie, M.D., director of curricular programs; and Jason Shiffermiller, M.D., director of analytics.
“Hospitalists have so much to offer patients and systems. We are committed to providing the best care and dedicated to constantly improving delivery of that care,” Dr. Thompson said. “I am honored to lead the new section and look forward to the collaborative work ahead.”
Tom Tape, M.D., chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine, said, “We are thrilled that Dr. Thompson has assumed the leadership of the hospitalist group. She brings a wealth of experience and great ideas from the University of Washington that will help grow our hospitalist program and lead to new levels of clinical, educational, and research excellence.”