If you’ve been in the hospital recently, you probably noticed that the medical team who provided your care included many specialists other than your personal physician. At Brownwood Regional Medical Center, in addition to the doctors, nurses, case managers, diagnosticians and other specialists, your regular physician may partner with a special type of physician known as a hospitalist.
A hospitalist – a physician who practices exclusively in the hospital setting – serves as your personal physician’s right hand and spearheads your care while you are in the hospital. Hospitalists have been a part of the medical field for many years, and are one of the fastest-growing types of doctors because of their important role in coordinating care and providing continuity for patients during their hospital stay.
Like a primary care doctor, hospitalists are trained in general internal medicine, family practice, pediatrics, and other specialties. Some specialize in critical care medicine, cardiology, or other subspecialties.
Dr. Tom Byrd will serve as Medical Director for the Heart of Texas Internal Medicine Hospitalist program for Brownwood Regional Medical Center and shares these comments, “The hospitalist model is really not a new concept at all. When I was at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas in the early 1990’s, hospitalist programs were in their infancy. Currently, over 90% of hospitals in the United States with greater than 80 beds have an ongoing hospitalist program. There are multiple reasons for this expansion, but one of the chief driving forces is the lack of primary care physicians coming out of residency and their desire to not practice in the traditional model of office/hospital with a call schedule.”
Hospitalists are valuable liaisons for both patients and their physicians. The average primary care physician spends only 12 percent of his or her time seeing patients in the hospital, according to a study by The Advisory Board Company, a Washington, D.C.-based health care consulting organization. Hospitalists, on the other hand, are onsite 24 hours a day, seven days a week They are available to see patients more frequently – sometimes more than once a day – to monitor patients’ progress, answer questions, and oversee the efforts of other health care professionals involved in patients’ care. Because hospitalists do not maintain medical practices outside the hospital, they can focus their attention exclusively on patients’ medical care while they are inside the hospital.
If you are admitted to the hospital for surgery, a hospitalist may coordinate your inpatient care after your procedure. During this time, the hospitalist and your primary care physician are in continual communication. Your physician will consult with the hospitalist to provide background information on your health history and diagnosis. The hospitalist then carries out the plan of care set up by your physician, coordinates your daily care with other members of the medical team, and communicates any changes in your condition to your physician. Once you are discharged home, the hospitalist will communicate with your physician about further treatment needed, help arrange follow-up care or medications needed, and send your hospital records back to your primary care provider.
Hospitalists have a thorough understanding of inpatient medical care, and are uniquely qualified to recognize and diagnose medical disorders, anticipate potential problems and rapidly respond to any sudden change in the patient’s condition.
Patients under the care of a medical team led by a hospitalist often have shorter hospital stays and quicker recoveries. A study at the University of California, San Francisco and Tufts University found that patients under hospitalists’ care had a 12 percent shorter length of stay in the hospital – nearly half a day – as well as better surgical outcomes and fewer return trips to the hospital.
“I feel the impact in our community will be very positive. The physicians that are dedicated to being in the hospital setting, will be able to spend much more time with the patients and their families and be able to streamline care. Likewise, some of my former colleagues who are practicing in an outpatient setting only, can devote more of their time and resources to caring for these patients ongoing needs,” states Dr. Byrd.
