Hospitalists and the Hospital Medicine System of Care Are Good for Patient Care

摘要

HOSPITALISTS, ALONG with the evolution of the specialty of hospital medicine, are improving the delivery of care to hospitalized patients and are poised to revolutionize the system of hospital care delivery. Initial research indicates that hospitalists reduce inpatient mortality while demonstrating consistent reductions in health care costs. Not only are adult inpatients benefiting, but pediatric hospitalists seem to have a similar impact. With probably 20 000 or more hospitalists currently in the United States, this increasingly evidence-based intervention has experienced remarkable growth since the mid 1990s and has become part of the mainstream of health care delivery. The Society of Hospital Medicine aptly defines hospitalists as "physicians whose primary professional focus is the general medical care of hospitalized patients," reflecting how they focus mainly on hospital care delivery and how to improve it. Hospital medicine continues to evolve and to meet the needs of hospitalized patients as well as providing multiple solutions to the hospital system of care delivery. There are many ways in which hospitalists can benefit patients:#