In 2003, Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) announced the first in a series of guidelines related to the residency training. The most recent recommendations include explicit recommendations regarding the provision of on‐site clinical supervision for trainees of internal medicine. To meet these standards, many internal medicine residency programs turned to hospitalist programs to fill that need. However, much is unknown about the current relationships between hospitalist and residency programs, specifically with regard to supervisory roles and supervision policies. We aimed to describe how academic hospitalists currently supervise housestaff during the on‐call, or overnight, period and hospitalist program leader their perceptions of how these new policies would impact trainee‐hospitalist interactions. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2012; © 2012 Society of Hospital Medicine

Patient safety (PS) and quality improvement (QI) are among the highest priorities for all health systems. Resident physicians are often at the front lines of providing care for patients. In many instances, however, QI and PS initiatives exclude trainees. By aligning the goals of the health system with those of the residency program to engage residents in QI and PS projects, there is a unique opportunity to fulfill both a corporate and educational mission to improve patient care. Here, the authors briefly describe one residency program's educational curriculum to provide foundational knowledge in QI and PS to all its trainees and highlight a resident team-based project that applied principles of lean thinking to evaluate the process of responding to an in-hospital cardiopulmonary arrest. This approach provided residents with a practical experience but also presented an opportunity for trainees to align with the health system's approach to improving quality and safety.

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False-positive blood culture results may lead to prolonged hospitalization, inappropriate antibiotic administration, and increased healthcare costs. We conducted a review of the literature to assess the effect of skin antiseptic agents on the rate of false-positive blood culture results. We found no clear evidence to suggest which antiseptic should be used to prevent false-positive results. Studies suggest, however, a possible benefit from the use of prepackaged skin antiseptic kits and alcohol-containing antiseptics.

Physicians increasingly investigate, work, and teach to improve the quality of care and safety of care delivery. The Society of General Internal Medicine Academic Hospitalist Task Force sought to develop a practical tool, the quality portfolio, to systematically document quality and safety achievements. The quality portfolio was vetted with internal and external stakeholders including national leaders in academic medicine. The portfolio was refined for implementation to include an outlined framework, detailed instructions for use and an example to guide users. The portfolio has eight categories including: (1) a faculty narrative, (2) leadership and administrative activities, (3) project activities, (4) education and curricula, (5) research and scholarship, (6) honors, awards, and recognition, (7) training and certification, and (8) an appendix. The authors offer this comprehensive, yet practical tool as a method to document quality and safety activities. It is relevant for physicians across disciplines and institutions and may be useful as a standalone document or as an adjunct to traditional promotion documents. As the Next Accreditation System is implemented, academic medical centers will require faculty who can teach and implement the systems-based practice requirements. The quality portfolio is a method to document quality improvement and safety activities.