Posted: 1/07/2019

I’ve been writing the ACPA blog for nearly 4 years now, and it has been an honor to be able to present my musings and provide physician advisor education through this platform. I hope my readers have found my submissions a useful source of ideas and information, but now it’s time for me to pass the torch.

When I began my career as part time physician adviser in 2004, I barely knew what the job entailed. I was primarily occupied with developing a hospitalist program, which took most of my attention. It wasn’t until 2007 when I moved to full time physician advisor that my education in regulatory compliance actually began.

Nearly every hospital of any size now has at least one physician advisor or contracts with an outside provider of physician advisor services. There’s a reason for this: Hospitals have realized that physician advisors are critical to their compliance with billing regulations and in turn with their financial success. There are many other ways physician advisors help their hospitals and medical staffs, including contributions to quality, safety, and effective resource utilization. Physician advisors are in a pivotal position to connect patients, the medical staff, case management, managed care plans, and hospital administration.

I am particularly proud to have been able to support the development and growth of the American College of Physician Advisors, the ACPA. It’s the only national organization for physician advisors. It was created by and is managed by physicians who are dedicated to supporting and advancing the role of the physician advisor. The ACPA has become a respected source of information for the industry and has now grown in 4 ½ years to nearly 700 members. It offers an invaluable annual conference, the National Physician Advisors Conference, or NPAC, which will be held in Atlanta this year on March 11-13. I encourage every reader to join the ACPA if you’re not a member, and to attend the conference, whether you are a member or not. See you there!

The song goes, “All good things must end sometime,” so I now pass responsibility for the ACPA blog to my more-than-capable compatriot, Dr. Juliet Hopkins. I look forward to reading her contributions, as I’m sure you do, too.

Thank you, Dr. Hopkins. Thank you, loyal readers. Happy New Year to all.