Society of Hospital Medicine Announces Dr. Eric Howell as Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Howell Brings Years of Hospitalist Practice & Health System Leadership to Support Society’s Mission of Improving Care of Hospitalized Patients

The Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) recently announced the appointment of Eric Howell, MD, MHM to the position of Chief Operating Officer. Dr. Howell joins the society with a wealth of expertise in hospital medicine from both the provider and operations perspectives.

“Having been involved with SHM in many capacities since first joining, I am honored to now transition to Chief Operating Officer,” says Dr. Howell. “I always tell everyone that my goal is to make the world a better place, and I know that SHM’s staff will be able to do just that through the development and deployment of a variety of products, tools and services to help hospitalists improve patient care.”

In his new role as Chief Operating Officer at SHM, Dr. Howell will lead senior management’s strategic planning as well as define organizational goals to drive extensive, sustainable growth. In addition to serving as SHM’s Chief Operating Officer, Dr. Howell will continue his role as Director of the Hospital Medicine Division of Johns Hopkins Bayview in Baltimore and Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine Johns Hopkins University. Dr. Howell joined the Johns Hopkins Bayview hospitalist program in 2000, began the Howard County General Hospital hospitalist program in 2010 and now oversees more nearly 200 physicians and clinical staff providing patient care in three hospitals.

“Eric has the perfect background to take SHM, its staff and its membership to the next level,” notes Laurence Wellikson, MD, MHM, Chief Executive Officer of SHM. “His foundational leadership in the hospital medicine movement makes him the ideal person to lead SHM forward in its quest to provide hospitalists with the tools necessary to make a noteworthy difference in their institutions and in the lives of their patients.”

He is a past president of SHM, the course director for the SHM Leadership Academies and most recently served as the Senior Physician Advisor to SHM’s Center for Quality Improvement, the society’s arm that conducts quality improvement programs for hospitalist teams.

Dr. Howell received his electrical engineering degree from the University of Maryland, which has served as an instrumental piece of his background for managing and implementing change in the hospital. His research has focused on the relationship between the emergency department and medicine floors, improving communication, throughput and patient outcomes.