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No Comments [ Add Comment ]New doctors in the house / They're hospitalists, and they're always there for you
OGDEN -- You're admitted to the hospital and expect to see your doctor each day, but then a physician you don't know walks into your room and announces you will be under his care during your stay.
Is the doctor in the wrong room?
Nope.
Today's doctors making hospital rounds are called hospitalists, and their primary focus is to take care of hospitalized patients.
"Hospital medicine is a specialty organized around a site of care rather than an organ or a disease," said Dr. Timothy Trask, a hospitalist at McKay-Dee Hospital Center who is also chief of the Department of Medicine and medical director of the stroke program.
Hospitalists provide medical care for general medical problems in patients age 18 and older in place of a patient's primary care physician, he said.
Hospitalists do not have an outpatient practice, but have arrangements with some community physicians to assume primary responsibility of their patients who are admitted to the hospital, Trask said.
Use of the service by the primary care doctor is voluntary.
Nearly 100 physicians in Weber and Davis counties have arrangements with the group of hospitalists at Mc-Kay-Dee.
Emily Clawson, 33, was recently admitted to McKay-Dee for an infection in her leg. The Syracuse resident knew she probably wouldn't be seeing her family doctor, but didn't know she would have a hospitalist.
"My doctor doesn't practice here, but this is where I preferred to go," she said.
"The hospitalist has been very knowledgeable and helpful and has answered all of my questions.
"A lot of doctors get busy with their patients in their office during the day, so it's nice to know there are doctors here who are following you more closely."
Richard Williams feels the same way.
The 70-year-old Wyoming man was also being treated recently at McKay-Dee for a leg infection.
"I think it's an excellent idea. You see a doctor more often, and that means better care because they are more readily accessible."
Dr. Masood Safaee, director of the hospitalist program at McKay-Dee and chairman of the hospitalist development team for Intermountain HealthCare, said McKay-Dee has 11 certified internists who are hospitalists.
The medical condition of a hospitalized patient often requires complex coordination of hospital staff, he said. Also, a patient's condition can change dramatically in a short time, requiring several visits by a physician in a single day.
"This is easily accomplished, as the hospitalists are always on site and do not need to travel from an outside office. In addition, the hospitalists are available to address concerns and provide updates to family members."
Safaee estimated the hospitalists at McKay-Dee care for more than 75 percent of all patients admitted for general medical conditions.
He said the only drawback to a hospitalist is the short-term relationship with a patient. Some patients and families miss the continuity with their regular doctor, although many primary care physicians visit their patient on a social basis.
Ogden Regional Medical Center hospitalist Dr. Susan Hustad quit her private practice to become a full-time hospitalist.
"I work seven 12-hour shifts and have seven days off," she said. "Right now, we have four full-time hospitalists and six part-time, so because we are still small, I am very busy."
Hustad said she is still educating patients who ask, "Where is my doctor?" when she walks into their room to care for them.
"I explain the trend of hospitalists, and they are usually very receptive," she said. "A lot of patients even end up asking me if I have my own private practice."
Hustad said her goal is to see each patient once a day, more often if the patient is critically ill. She also will return to speak with family members or if there is a change in care.
"I think hospitalists are good because doctors get very busy with their practice and it's very hard to learn or re-learn the skills of taking care of critically ill patients," she said.
"Seeing a hospitalist is not a step down, but is truly a step up."
Dr. Seth Lewis, an Ogden internist, releases his patients to hospitalists. Before the program came along, he was responsible for his patients' care in the office and at both hospitals, as well as his partners' patients if he was on call.
"I like the hospitalists. I've been comfortable with the care that both hospitalist services have provided my patients," Lewis said.
"It helps control and spread patient load. A number of my colleagues have increased office hours, and I have been able to spend more morning time helping to get the children ready for school and being able to walk them to school," he said.
"In the past when I had a patient or two at each hospital, I would have to leave long before my family was awake."
Lewis said he still goes on "social visit rounds" to his patients who are being cared for by hospitalists.
"I think they bring a fresh perspective to the care of a complicated patient that might get admitted to the hospital," he said.
"At times, it has been like having a built-in second opinion, which both I and patients have found helpful."
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