ACPE members sharing their stories at the 2012 annual conference

For the third year, ACPE (American College of Physician Executives) hosted a poster presentation during its 2012 Annual Meeting, an event that draws physicians from all over the country to share success stories and describe challenges they've faced. This year, 25 people were selected to participate in the session, which was held Saturday, April 28, at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco, Calif.

Charisse Jimenez, ACPE's membership director and the organizer of the event, said she was overwhelmed by the quality of the presentations. "Our members have so many interesting and valuable lessons to share," Jimenez said. "The poster session provides an excellent opportunity for our physician leaders to discuss common problems, get advice from their colleagues and learn a little more about what's going on in the world of health care leadership."

After the two-hour event, the presentations are captured in a digital library, which is located on the ACPE web site.



Participants chose a wide variety of topics for the 2012 session, everything from improving meeting effectiveness to reducing hospital admissions to creating a medical home.

Ronald Yap, MD, chronicled his creation of two patient-centered mobile apps that measured urologic health. "Bladder Pal" and "Prostate Pal" could be used by patients on their smartphones to keep a digital journal of their condition and check their symptoms. Prostate Pal also included a PSA tracker. Data could be stored in the device and sent via email to health care providers. The app has already attracted more than 3,000 users from 69 different countries.

ACPE Fellow Lawrence Flesh's presentation showed how the VA Health Care system in upstate New York adopted color-coded patient-safety barcode wristbands. The team worked hard to standardize color choices. For example, someone who was a fall risk received a yellow band, while a patient with allergies received a red band. Flesh said the project was challenging but it was ultimately viewed as successful.

View all the ACPE member stories here.