I was reviewing some old stacks this weekend, and wonderfully, stumbled upon various old Hospitalist editions. The most striking element, beyond the nonprofessional appearance, is the prescient positions our organization seized at the time. It was neither about money, nor opportunism. And we were speaking about quality improvement before half the health care world knew what the IOM report meant. No one, and I mean no one, was in on these subjects a decade ago.
Don’t believe me? Just skim the table of contents below. This was not standard operating material for the day, and heavens, a health economist as a keynote in 2000, have mercy (Uwe Reinhardt incidentally, is tops, and the best we have had. Just watch this short clip for a taste).
It is amazing how this organization has grown, and watching from the front row has been a privilege. One just assumes that administrator ‘x’ and vice president ‘y’ and committee chair ‘z’ all materialized in sequence, from a master plan drawn from on high. Big bets, risky hires and uncertainty all were part of the script. Phenomenal. Of course, a few leadership blunders along the way came with the territory. Then Larry came along… 🙂
A nice post to conclude 2011 on I reason, and suffice it to say, it’s been delightful blogging for all of you the past year. I hope that when we return in 2012, the site will have some new surprises and features.
The next twelve months promises to be packed, and by that, I mean presidential politics and Supreme Court decision making. Do not fall asleep at the wheel—how these events unfold will have huge practice implications for hospitals and acute care.
Regardless of those little distractions however, have a safe and absolutely wonderful holiday and New Year. Enjoy!!!!
ps–incidentally, these early publications sprung from lots of individual effort and elbow grease. If you ever get a chance, ask John Nelson about the “wrong phone number.” It is an XXX-tremely interesting story. Wink.
A nice walk down memory lane