Sound Physicians Hosts Webcast 'Innovative Methods to Reduce Readmissions' - Charles Saunders, M.D., CEO for Emerging Businesses at Aetna, Joins Sound Physicians' CEO, Robert Bessler, M.D.

    TACOMA, WA, July 31, 2012 /24-7PressRelease/ -- Sound Physicians, a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving improvements in quality, satisfaction, and financial performance of inpatient healthcare delivery, will host the webcast, "Innovative Methods to Reduce Readmissions," August 21, at 11:30 a.m. PST.

The webcast program features Sound Physicians' CEO, Robert Bessler, M.D., and guest, Charles Saunders, M.D., CEO of Emerging Businesses at Aetna. Dr. Saunders is board-certified in Internal Medicine and Emergency Medicine. He has authored papers and articles in emergency medicine and was the editor of several editions of the widely-circulated textbook, "Current Emergency Diagnosis and Treatment." Dr. Bessler is recognized for developing innovative clinical processes and performance management strategies that improve quality, satisfaction and financial performance in hospital medicine.

Beginning in 2013, hospitals will face a 1% payment penalty for higher than expected readmission rates for acute myocardial infarction, pneumonia, and heart failure. The payment penalty will increase to 2% in 2014 and 3% in 2015. It is estimated that approximately 60% of hospitals could see reduced payments due to readmission penalties.

Drs. Saunders and Bessler will explore approaches to leverage performance management and use hospitalists, who oversee care for patients while they are in the hospital, to help reduce unnecessary readmissions.

This program is ideal for hospital executives and hospitalist teams providing inpatient care. Register for the webcast at www.soundphysicians.com.

About Sound Physicians
Sound Physicians is a leading hospitalist organization focused on driving performance in quality, satisfaction and efficiency of inpatient health care delivery. By investing deeply in outstanding physicians, clinical process excellence and its proprietary workflow and informatics technology, Sound Physicians improves the delivery of inpatient care. Sound Physicians aligns with healthcare providers to measurably enhance patient outcomes and strengthen its partners' financial performance. The organization is the practice of choice of more than 500 hospitalist and post-acute physicians. To learn more visit: www.soundphysicians.com.

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