Academic Focus Ensures Up-to-Date Knowledge

AIMS has a long tradition of involvement in medical education. Because our staff members have extensive experience training future physicians, this keeps our physicians informed on the latest research, trends and technology in acute inpatient care.

As an academic hospitalist group, AIMS is actively involved in educating postgraduate internal medicine residents, medical students and physician assistants at the teaching hospitals where we practice.

AIMS board members Marc Feldman, M.D., Rajika Munasinghe, M.D. and Preeti Misra, M.D., serve as Associate Program Directors. AIMS staff members serve as instructors in internal medicine residency programs at Henry Ford Macomb Hospital – Clinton Township, DMC Sinai Grace Hospital – Detroit, and St. Mary’s Hospital- Livonia.

AIMS continues to support the mission of undergraduate and graduate medical education in a variety of ways:

• Residents and medical students make rounds with our hospitalists and receive hands-on training in acute patient care.

• Our hospitalists conduct a morning conference series for residents and medical students discussing the management of unique cases seen on their service.

• A noon conference series for residents is also offered in which our hospitalists cover a wide variety of medical topics.

• AIMS faculty mentor research projects of residents.

Success of our teaching program can be seen not only in the quality of physicians we graduate, but in the residents’ pass rate on the certification examination for the American Board of Internal Medicine. For several years, out of 17 Internal Medicine Residency programs in Michigan, we were one of only two programs with a 100% pass rate.

A Record of Dependable, High-Quality Patient Care

As one of the most experienced hospitalist groups in southeast Michigan, AIMS has a proven reputation for excellent patient care. Our dedication to providing inpatient care of the highest quality standards is shown in our:

• Highly personal patient care due to our consistent staffing patterns
• Strong focus on patient communication and education
• 24/7 availability for predictability of care

Our long tradition of commitment to academics and to the education of future physicians keeps us on the leading edge of medical knowledge. Our experienced staff, all board certified or board eligible, is involved in academics on a daily basis.

Proven Experience with Quality Metrics & Cost Containment

AIMS cooperates with hospital administrations to meet measurable quality and utilization goals, national core measures and project targets.

Our patient care metrics nearly always meet or surpass state, national and hospital-developed standards of care for:

• Length of stay

• Mortality rates

• Percentage of complications of care

• 3-day and 30-day readmission rates

• Average costs

Providing Technological Solutions for Improved Communication

AIMS is at the forefront among hospitalist groups at leveraging digital technology in clinical communication. Our secure Patient Information Portal, accessible through this website, is a sophisticated tool that helps us communicate promptly and comprehensively with Primary Care Physicians (PCPs). The site features advanced functionality and interactivity so that PCPs can be kept informed about their patient’s status while in the hospital and know exactly how they should follow up with the patient to best manage their care following discharge. Patient reports are now available to PCPs in real time, as they are input at patient admission, discharge and change in status.

In addition, AIMS operates a comprehensive internal web portal accessible only to our staff. This site supports our hospitalists’ needs for secure clinical information, administrative support, and prompt communication and documentation.

Supporting Research Efforts

In addition to placing a strong emphasis on clinical medicine and teaching, AIMS physicians recognize the value of medical research in advancing medical care.

AIMS physicians have championed several community outreach programs for chronic disease management and was the principal investigator for a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation to study the disparities in healthcare for minority patients with congestive heart failure and acute myocardial infarction. As a follow-up to the completion of the first study, Sinai-Grace Hospital was awarded a second grant for developing best nursing care practices for the same conditions.

When working with hospital administrators to establish Center of Excellence status for medical departments, AIMS staff rely heavily on evidence-based medicine, strongly supported by the latest in medical research, to develop procedures and protocols.

As part of their teaching responsibilities, AIMS staff members are actively involved in resident research activities. Faculty members conduct courses on clinical epidemiology, statistics and evidence-based medicine. They also mentor individual residents through all stages of research, including hypothesis development, literature review, study design, statistics, reviewing and editing.

Residents are required to develop at least one case report or research project for presentation at regional and national meetings of the American College of Physicians (ACP). These research projects are also presented at events such as the Sinai-Grace Research Day held annually.

Dr. Munasinghe, has won awards from the Michigan Chapter of the ACP for his efforts on resident research competitions.