Report Cards for Hospitalist Physicians, Mentoring Program Guidelines Presented by Cogent Healthcare.

Business Editors/Health/Medical Writers

IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 19, 2004

Cards Propose Quality Measures for This

Fast-Growing Medical Specialty 

Criteria for report cards for hospitalists and findings from a new survey on mentoring programs will be presented by Cogent Healthcare in poster sessions at the Society for Hospital Medicine annual meeting in New Orleans, Louisiana, April 19-21, 2004.

"There are currently no standards on what performance measures should be used for determining the quality of care delivered by hospitalist physicians," said Dr. Navneet Kathuria, national medical director for Cogent, a leading inpatient management company that operates hospitalist programs in 13 markets across the United States. "Our company already uses extensive reporting tools to measure quality of care, including 'best practice' guidelines for the most common diagnosis treated in hospitals. We have translated this approach into criteria for report cards that will keep this growing profession in step with the governmental and professional groups now implementing quality and performance improvement benchmarking criteria."

Cogent's report card template includes elements for assessing hospitalist programs and providing comparative performance benchmarks. It can also be used to educate physicians about best practices that will improve the overall quality of care delivered in the hospital.

Cogent has also had a longstanding mentoring program in which experienced hospitalists make onsite visits to educate and support newer hospitalists. The company recently conducted a survey of hospitalists in eight of its programs. In this poster presentation, Dr. Kathuria will present what hospitalists expect from their mentoring relationships and identify the issues involved in the development of mentoring programs for hospital medicine.

Cogent's physicians are leaders in the emerging practice of hospitalism, and were among the pioneers who started this movement 10 years ago. Dr. Ron Greeno, chief medical officer, was named one of the outstanding hospitalists in America by the Society for Hospital Medicine. Dr. Andrew Fishmann, founder of Cogent's mentoring program, recently became the first hospitalist physician appointed to the National Advisory Council for the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), which provides advice and recommendations on priorities for a national health services research agenda. Cogent also established the first Internet-based continuing medical educational program for hospitalist physicians, which can be accessed on the company's website, www.cogenthealthcare.com.

Cogent Healthcare's hospitalist programs are 30 percent more effective in lowering costs and improving quality than the average results of hospitalist programs, as reported by the Journal of the American Medical Association. Cogent patients on average report satisfaction ratings of 99 percent, as compared to only 80 percent of hospital patients nationally in a survey conducted by Consumer Reports. Cogent's unique discharge follow-up program helps to answer the questions that 80 percent of patients have when they go home, improving compliance and helping to avoid unnecessary hospital readmissions.

For more information about Cogent Healthcare, contact Bill Behnke, at 949-399-6038.

About Cogent Healthcare, Inc.:

Cogent Healthcare, Inc. is a leading provider of services that improve the well being of hospitalized patients. Its vision is to improve care and efficiency by reducing variations in care, establishing best practices, identifying and removing barriers to efficient care, and measuring outcomes. To this end, the company provides comprehensive programs in clinical care staffing, communication, and data management that support the hospitalist physician in the delivery of inpatient care.

The Cogent model of inpatient care management is based upon a core group of experienced physicians who specialize in the care of hospitalized patients and who are available to the hospital 24 hours a day to attend to the changing needs of the patient. These hospitalist physicians are supported by clinical care coordinators, experienced nurses who manage the administrative tasks so that the physicians can focus on clinical care. Cogent also provides "best practice" guidelines for the most common hospital diagnoses, audits to determine how well the guidelines were followed, information systems to record data and measure results, and automated communication systems to keep all members of the care team informed, including the primary care physician who will resume care of the patient when they leave the hospital.

Cogent's hospitalist model also includes in-house physician coverage 24 hours a day, seven days a week. This service provides the hospital with an efficient management system for the physicians who stay overnight, contributing to additional savings for the hospital.