What Are Hospitalists?
Hospitalists are physicians who exclusively take care of hospitalized patients. They’ve chosen to dedicate their careers entirely to the care of the acutely ill hospitalized patients in our community, with considerable experience and expertise in a variety of acute illnesses ranging from cardiac conditions to stroke and infections.
Hospitalist physicians have completed residency training in general internal medicine or family medicine with a focus on care of the hospitalized patient. Physician Assistants and Nurse Practitioners who practice as hospitalists usually have extensive work experience in the hospital under supervision by Hospitalist physicians, and almost always bring additional work experience from time spent in other medical subspecialties.
Hospitalists provide timely attention to all your needs, including diagnosis, treatment, and coordination of care across the many specialists you might see during a hospital stay. Unlike specialists who work solely with one organ system or certain type of patient, hospitalists must have working expertise in nearly every area. You can think of hospitalists as in-house, temporary primary care physicians focused on your care while you are hospitalized.
Since they only work in hospitals, hospitalists know how to seamlessly navigate the hospital staff and adhere to protocols, and they are experts in treating the most common conditions that bring people to the hospital. They’re diligent in ensuring that many chronic medical conditions are coordinated and managed together as a continuum of care between the office and hospital to help the experience go smoothly for everyone involved.
How Can Hospitalists Improve Patient Care?
Hospitalists help improve patient care and the overall patient experience in a variety of impactful ways. In addition to their core expertise managing the clinical problems of acutely ill, hospitalized patients, hospitalists actively support the implementation of medical guidelines and practices to help enhance the level of care provided by:
- Managing day-to-day care and providing prompt, complete attention to the patient’s needs — including diagnosis, treatment, and the performance of medical procedures
- Employing quality assurance and process improvement techniques to make the hospital a safer place and improve patient outcomes
- Keeping everyone on the same page by facilitating collaboration, communication, and coordination with all physicians, healthcare personnel, and care team members involved in patient care
- Supporting the safe transition of patient care within the hospital, and from the hospital to the community.
- Using all hospital and healthcare resources available in an efficient, effective way
The Hospitalist team at Wilmington Health is dedicated, experienced, and ready to continue improving the patient care experience for all involved. We all work together as a collaborative team, so we’ll be there to provide a seamless transition between your Primary Care Provider and hospital. We can even coordinate care directly with your Primary Care Provider to avoid the Emergency Room whenever direct hospital admission from the office or home is necessary and deemed safe.
Click here to learn more about our Hospitalist team today.