Course Directors:
Joseph A. Miller
Society of Hospital Medicine

Patrick J. Torcson, MD, MMM, FACP, SFHM
St. Tammany Parish Hospital

Course Overview:
Healthcare reform presents new challenges for hospitalists. Beginning October 1, 2012, the Value Based Purchasing (VBP) program puts hospitals at financial risk for a defined set of clinical and patient satisfaction metrics. For this course, SHM has put together a faculty of experts who have demonstrated excellent performance on VBP measures. Hospitalists attending this course should be better prepared to become the physician champions for VBP at their hospitals.

Objectives:
At the conclusion of this activity, participants will be able to:

• Describe the payment implications of VBP
• Identify three best practices for improving performance on VBP clinical measures
• Identify three best practices for improving performance on VBP patient satisfaction measures

Accreditation Statement
This activity has been planned and implemented in accordance with the Essential Areas and Policies of the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME) through the joint sponsorship of Blackwell Futura Media Services and the Society of Hospital Medicine. Blackwell Futura Media Services is accredited by the ACCME to provide continuing medical education for physicians.

Designation Statement
Blackwell Futura Media Services designates this live activity for the pre-course How to Improve CMS's Value-Based Purchasing Program for a maximum of 3.75 AMA PRA Category 1 Credits™. Physicians should only claim credit commensurate with the extent of their participation in the activity.