Articles - Hospital Medicine
ABHM is the Exclusive Dedicated Board of Certification for Hospitalists
The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) developed the ABHM – the American Board of Hospital Medicine® – because we recognized a need for board certification for hospitalists in America. More than just a subspecialty, the rapidly expanding field of hospital medicine represents a growing need in America, and dedicated hospital medicine physicians deserve an opportunity to become board certified ...
How Hospitalists Contribute to Improved Patient Safety
It is no coincidence that the rise of hospitalists in the United States coincided with a major push to improve patient safety at hospitals, a push that began in the late 1990s and continues to this day. As recently as 1999, an estimated 98,000 deaths were attributed to medical errors each year, according to an Institute of Medicine report, “To ...
What is the ABHM (American Board of Hospital Medicine)?
The American Board of Hospital Medicine (ABHM) was founded to provide physicians who have made a career working in hospitals the opportunity to demonstrate their mastery of the core competencies required to render the best treatment possible. The existence of the ABHM is an acknowledgement of the increasing importance of the hospitalist profession on the medical landscape in the United ...
About the ABHM Exam for Board Certification
The exam for the American Board of Hospital Medicine (ABHM) consists of approximately 200 multiple-choice questions. This written exam is computer-based and is administered by the American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS®). It is offered twice a year, typically during four-week windows in May and November, at testing centers throughout the United States, Puerto Rico, and Canada. The exam lasts ...
How the Practice of Hospital Medicine is Changing
The specialized practice of Hospital Medicine has grown considerably during the past two decades, and recognition of the increasing prevalence of the specialty has led to the development of the American Board of Hospital Medicine® (ABHM). The ABHM is one of 18 Member Boards administered by the American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS), which is one of the three most ...
Why it is Wrong that Some Qualified Physicians Remain Unable to Secure a Career Foothold with Hospitals
In spite of impending physician shortages, some hospitals continue to ignore some qualified physicians merely because of the board-certifying body they chose to become certified through. The American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS) believes this flaw in hiring policies will do nothing but exacerbate the physician shortage problem, leaving perfectly qualified physicians frustrated and − more importantly − threatening the ...
What is a Hospitalist?
A hospitalist is a physician who must master the specific skill set and knowledge required to treat and care for patients in the hospital. Many physicians choose to work primarily in hospitals and self-identify as hospitalists, yet they are board certified in a specialty, such as Internal Medicine or Family Practice Medicine, that does not accurately reflect their experience and ...
Why Hospitals and Clinics Should Emphasize Board Certification When Hiring & Privileging Physicians
While hiring practices at hospitals and medical clinics throughout North America differ, one thing CEOs and recruiters all have in common is the desire to staff their facilities with physicians who are capable of providing the finest care possible. Each organization has its own screening process, which is designed to ensure that the best candidates are given due consideration. Screening ...
How the ABPS Helps Hospital Recruiters
Hospital recruiters who are trying to navigate challenges related to an ongoing physician shortage might be able to find help via the American Board of Physician Specialties (ABPS). The ABPS believes that qualified primary care physicians with a great deal of emergency department and other hospital experience – a status that particularly applies to rural physicians – should be afforded ...
Online Verification of Physician Board Certification Helps Simplify and Facilitate the Process of Granting, Maintaining Hospital Privileges
The verification of physician board certification credentials no longer is a clerical roadblock to the granting of hospital privileges, or to maintaining those privileges. Information that once might have required weeks for an administrator to check now is available quickly and easily online, usually through dedicated portals found on the websites of the major multi-specialty board certification bodies. Neither the ...