Hospitalists

A hospitalist is a physician who specializes in caring for hospitalized patients and acts as a primary care physician for the hospital. Because hospitalists do not maintain outside clinics, they can focus exclusively on patients' medical care inside the hospital.

Our hospitalists specialize in the kinds of acute medical conditions that need to be treated in the hospital. We also have a hospitalist in-house 24/7 should a patient need urgent attention.

The hospitalist can often help speed a patient's recovery and shorten their hospital stay by following up on tests, adjusting their treatment throughout the day and meeting with patients and families regularly to update plans of care.

Hospitalists round on patients to maximize patient continuity of care. However, as a hospitalist goes off-service at the end of their cycle, a patient's care may be turned over to another hospitalist.

Hospitalists partner with each patient's primary care doctor to administer and oversee their treatment while they are in the hospital, serving as their doctor until they are discharged. When a patient is discharged, their primary physician will resume their care. Reports from their inpatient stay will be sent to their primary physician upon discharge. The hospitalist may consult with their primary physician as appropriate.

As with any other doctor's visit, we encourage families to be present when patients are seen, to meet their caregivers and ask questions. Hospitalist physicians see patients at least once-a-day or more, if appropriate. It’s a good idea for patients to record their questions on a notepad for later discussions with their family and doctor. Family members may contact the hospitalist(s) through the hospital’s nursing staff.

The hospitalist and other staff at the hospital assist patients in finding a doctor after they leave the hospital. Records from their hospital stay can be sent to this doctor.

Our hospitalists have put together a schedule that maximizes physician and patient continuity. At first, a patient is matched with the hospitalist that is available at the time of their admission. There are also physician assistants and advanced registered nurse practitioners specializing in hospital medicine that work under the supervision of the hospitalist and assist in patient care.