Hospitalists: a Necessity in the Changing Health Care System

PRLog (Press Release) - Apr 10, 2007 -
TAMPA BAY, FL – April 11, 2007:  According to the Society for Hospital Medicine (www.hospitalmedicine.org), the number of hospitalists has increased from about 500 to about 20,000 since 1996, and the number likely will increase to about 30,000 by 2010.  Drawn in large part from the ranks of internal medicine, hospitalists are consistently available to patients while they are admitted to the hospital and are familiar with the specialists, nurses, and managers who provide specific treatment. This position makes them better-equipped to eliminate communication errors and bureaucratic mistakes.

More and more doctors are choosing to become hospitalists, by going into the practice of hospital medicine, as the changing health care system demands a way for concerned practitioners to shepherd patients through its twists, turns, and blind alleys.

“This environment has fostered an explosive growth of the subspecialty,” said Dr. Chris Nussbaum, CEO and founder of Synergy Medical Group, PA, the first independent private practice hospitalist group in Tampa Bay.  “Leading and coordinating the care of multidisciplinary patients, the hospitalist is in a strong position to reduce costs, shorten length of stay, enhance throughput, and create massive savings--all in a high quality, evidence based environment.”

The term “hospitalist” was coined in 1996 by Drs. Robert Wachter and Lee Goldman, of the University of California–San Francisco, writing in a New England Journal of Medicine article, to refer to doctors who specialize in the direct, tracked care of hospital inpatients.  Excitement surrounding the field comes from the clinical diversity, flexible hours, and high quality of medicine that hospitalists create.

Patients aren’t the only one benefiting from the discipline, either.  In numerous studies, hospitalists have proven to be an optimum way to improve quality measures for a hospital and to implement National Quality Forum goals as a value-added benefit to their practice. Hospitalists often become embedded necessities for the hospitals in which they work.


“In the coming era of pay for performance, as well as in the competitive over-all healthcare arena, hospitalists may be the difference between the cutting edge of care and falling behind,” said Dr. Nussbaum. “Hospitalists navigate the best solutions for the myriad problems a large organization faces in providing quality healthcare efficiently, effectively, and humanely.”


Dr. Chris M. Nussbaum is CEO and founder of Synergy Medical Group, PA, the first independent private practice Hospitalist group in Tampa Bay and the largest in eastern Hillsborough County. He can be reached at 813-655-4901 or synergycareteam@yahoo.com

www.synergyhospitalists.com



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