Patients admitted to Laughlin Memorial Hospital will now be served by an inpatient care specialist called a hospitalist.
On Oct. 2, Laughlin joined a growing number of hospitals throughout the region to offer a hospitalist program for its hospitalized patients.
Unlike most other physicians, hospitalists do not provide front-end care to patients in a private practice clinic. They are generally internal medicine specialists who practice medicine only within a hospital setting. For example, if you have a minor illness that requires medical attention, you would likely go see your family physician.
However, if your condition worsened and you required hospitalization, your family doctor may turn your inpatient care over to a hospitalist, if such a service is offered by your hospital.
“Having hospitalists continuously available means patients are discharged sooner, and hospitals then have increased bed capacity to admit new patients,” according to a news release from Summit Medical Care, which is partnering with Laughlin Hospital to staff hospitalists there.
“Patients admitted to the hospital receive more efficient care, and recovered patients go home sooner,” the release says.
“We believe a hospitalist program will enable us to provide better care for patients during hospitalization,” said Chuck Whitfield, president and CEO of Laughlin Memorial Hospital. “Patients and primary care physicians will agree that hospitalists are a positive addition to Laughlin.”
The new hospitalist program at Laughlin Hospital is being staffed by Dr. Jesse Doers and Dr. Steven Prince, who are both affiliated with Statcare Hospitalist Group, a division of Summit Medical Group, based in Knoxville.
Statcare Hospitalist Group consists of 47 internal medicine and pulmonary physicians who staff hospitalist programs at four other hospitals in East Tennessee, including St. Mary’s Medical Center, St. Mary’s North, Fort Sanders Regional and Park West Medical Center.
Summit Medical Group was formed in 1995 by 37 Knoxville physicians who had been in the practice of internal medicine and family practice for up to 40 years.
Summit Medical Group currently has 193 physicians in 48 practice locations and eight hospitals serving more than a quarter of a million people in nine East Tennessee counties: Greene, Knox, Anderson, Blount, Campbell, Jefferson, Loudon, Monroe and Sevier.
Proponents of hospitalist care say it is a win-win situation for patients and their family physician.
Under a hospitalist program, physicians are available around-the-clock to provide care to hospitalized patients from the time that they are admitted until they are discharged.
Traditionally, office-based family physicians must divide their time between patients that they see during their clinic’s regular hours, and the ones in the hospital.
“Because they work in the hospital itself, hospitalists are able to devote more time to hospitalized patients, and they are able to respond to patient needs faster than could the primary care physician,” Dr. Doers said in a news release issued by Summit Medical.
“Patients benefit from this extended care while their doctors could often only check on them early in the morning or late at night, working around established office hours,” he added.
“Doctors in private practice are increasingly relying on hospitalists to care for their hospitalized patients while they focus on seeing patients in their offices,” the release says.
“Through advances in computerized patient records, hospitalists quickly access a patient’s full medical history. The hospitalist manages the care of the patient while in the hospital, and then the patient goes back to his or her primary care physician for continued care,” the release says.
The family physician, who is available for any consultation needed with the hospitalist, is kept updated on the patient’s condition and progress while hospitalized.
Dr. Maynard Austin, a physician with Greeneville Internal Medicine, said he is pleased to see a hospitalist program come to Laughlin Hospital, where he has been a long-time member of the medical staff.
“This is a type of partnership that not only enhances care provided to hospital patients but also improves the schedules and lives of the doctors,” Dr. Austin said. “In turn, doctors have more time and energy, allowing them to continue to provide superior care for all patients.”
According to the nonprofit Society of Hospital Medicine, 10 years ago there were only a few hundred hospitalists nationwide. Today, there are about 20,000, and by 2010, it’s expected that number will top 30,000.
