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Inpatient Medical Trends

Realizing the many benefits of the popular hospitalist model, physicians and hospitals are implementing this model of care across various specialties. Subspecialty inpatient physicians are typically present around the clock to handle emergency situations and can greatly reduce the amount of time between a consult request and a necessary procedure or treatment. As the healthcare industry seeks more efficient and cost effective models of care, we are sure to see an increase in subspecialty inpatient trends. Below is an overview of the most popular inpatient subspecialists.

Hospitalists
In 1996, Dr. Bob Wachter coined the term "hospitalist" in the New England Journal of Medicine. Hospitalists are physicians whose primary focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients. Their activities include patient care, teaching, research, and leadership related to hospital medicine. There are now more than 28,000 hospitalists practicing in the U.S.

Laborists
The chief role of the laborist is to manage the inpatient care of pregnant women including supervising labor and delivery and the treatment of those hospitalized with complications. Laborists allow traditional OB/GYNs to focus on their office-based patient care.

Surgicalists
Hospitals are increasingly employing surgicalists (both general and orthopedic) who, much like the traditional hospitalists or laborists, work on site to treat hospital-based patients and often take a large share of emergency cases. This allows private-practice surgeons to concentrate on elective surgery for insured patients, thus removing the pro-bono or underinsured care from their practices. From the hospital's perspective it's an attractive physician alignment strategy and worth the cost – improving patient care and physician relations.

Intensivists
Trained in critical care, intensivists provide continuous coverage in an ICU. They are skilled at identifying complications and at taking action before conditions worsen. Studies have shown that utilization of intensivists in an ICU lowers mortality rates, reduces cost of care and shortens hospital stays.

Neurointensivists
Practicing primarily in neuroscience intensive care units, neurointensivists are not only skilled in standard ICU procedures but also have skills in resuscitating the brain. Their primary concern is minimizing brain damage. They are adept at recognizing conditions and situations where the brain is at risk thereby preserving brain function and improving patient outcomes.

Psychiatric Inpatient Specialists
Psychiatric hospitalist programs help manage large, challenging patient populations and stabilize overworked medical staff. In addition to treating the inpatient psychiatric patients, they are available to meet the need for psychiatric consultations in a general hospital setting.

In summary, these specialty inpatient care programs are designed to not only improve patient care and outcomes but also to solve problems that are familiar to medical hospitalists, including the growing number of emergency department unassigned patients and the shrinking pool of specialists taking call. Equally important is the effect on recruitment efforts when inpatient coverage isn't available. As the physician shortage looms, hospitals with hospital coverage for these specialties will be more competitive and effective in their recruitment efforts.

For additional information regarding these inpatient subspecialties, please contact us.