Wang Initiates Hospitalist Role

As a rotating resident at Houston Methodist ENT, Ran “Annie” Wang, MD saw the imminent need for another ENT faculty for the hospital consult service, and decided she was the right person to fill it. “Houston Methodist has a very robust ENT consult service that is managed by residents and faculty in addition to their outpatient subspecialized practices. Balancing inpatient and outpatient service needs is difficult, and can lead to staff having to stay late or significantly rearrange their schedules to meet this. As I was seeing consults between surgeries or after clinic (often well into the evening by then), I always thought, ‘I want to find a better way to do this.’ ” Wang says.

With the department growing and new partners being onboarded, she saw that the demand for ENT care would only grow. Dr. Wang thought she could be the person who could help navigate the issue. She approached Mas Takashima, MD, chairman of the Department of Otolaryngology, with her vision of a new role - becoming the department’s first ENT hospitalist. Takashima agreed, and the position was created. The role Wang created for herself focuses on inpatient and emergency room consult patient needs. She is the go-to faculty for any doctor or care provider to discuss their patient's ENT needs with, and is available to staff any emergency or urgent ENT surgery a patient may need. She also staffs routine ENT surgeries for inpatients, allowing her partners to maintain their schedules and focus on building their outpatient practices.

Ran "Annie" Wang, MD

Wang is also leading many quality improvement initiatives within the department, from inpatient tracheostomies to postoperative discharge planning. Bedside tracheostomies are in high demand in the hospital, and she’s been working on finding ways to smooth the process between departments. These patients cannot progress in care until the surgery is performed, but three teams (surgery, anesthesia, nursing) have to coordinate while not interfering with already-booked surgeries. To integrate this process, she found the key people in the scheduling process and ensured that they can quickly update each other on trach consults and scheduling. Preliminary data showcases the benefits of this new process. “We've had a good streak of not needing to reschedule cases, and the time from consult to trach is within three days, which the ICU is more than happy with. In addition, OR team members have been happier because we've taken away the stress of trying to add on a case at the last minute. The process feels a lot smoother, and we have impressed the ICU with the decreased rate of rescheduling patients; they are slowly changing their workflow, and I hope that ENT becomes the first service they call for trach consults soon,” said Wang

The process feels a lot smoother, and we have impressed the ICU with the decreased rate of rescheduling patients. They are slowly changing their workflow, and I hope that ENT becomes the first service they call for trach consults soon.

Ran "Annie" Wang, MD

Her typical day begins at 6 a.m., rounding on consult patients with a resident. After rounds, her day can consist of cases, meetings, research, or clinic time. She has a set clinic on Friday afternoons and is available on short notice to see a patient in the clinic if a need arises. Aside from some regularly scheduled conferences, her schedule is highly flexible. Throughout the day, she consults with the residents to impart some of the finer nuances of inpatient ENT care. Typically, her day ends at 3 p.m., but she sometimes stays late if needed. If the residents see consults on admitted patients overnight, she will see the patient the next day. She says it’s hard to say what her favorite part of the job is. “There’s a lot to enjoy. I know I make a big difference as a dedicated inpatient faculty, especially as a familiar face for all the hospital. I also enjoy working with everyone, and seeing all the ways that we can continue to innovate our patient care processes”