Non-clinical Skills Important for Hospitalists

Being a great hospitalist goes beyond being just an excellent clinician. While clinical skills remain the most important, there are many non-clinical skills that are essential for every hospitalist.

Leadership: Though not every hospitalist is or will be a medical director, leadership skills are still important. Hospitalists are responsible for their patients from admission to discharge, so effectively managing the care they receive, along with those who administer it, is crucial. The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) offers a specialized Leadership Academy just for hospitalists, focusing on the unique challenges they face in their field. Three levels of this course allow participants at all levels to develop their skills and bring them back to their institution.

Communication: This is a critically important skill for every hospitalist. There’s only a short period of time to establish a relationship with a patient and their family. Being able to effectively communicate with them about the patient’s condition, procedures and expectations, is essential in building rapport quickly and establishing trust. Additionally, the hospitalist is in constant communication with internal team members, as well as the patient’s primary care physician. Effective communication regarding a patient’s condition helps to reduce both error and confusion.

Teamwork: This goes hand-in-hand with effective communication. Because hospitalists work with such a variety of people on the patient care team, effective teamwork is crucial. This isn’t necessarily something that’s taught in medical school, but members of the team should always work together with the patient in mind. Everyone is working towards the same goal and everyone’s strengths should be recognized and put to good use.

Quality Improvement: Hospitalists tend to be leaders in the area of healthcare quality improvement. Health care is in a constant state of change and always in need of improvement, and hospitalists are uniquely positioned to lead a number of QI efforts for inpatients. SHM also offers numerous ways for hospitalists to get involved in QI projects.