Thursday, September 22, 2011

You’re not my primary care doctor!


     If you’ve been a patient in Meritus Medical Center at any point over the last six years, chances are your attending physician was not your primary care doctor. That’s because Meritus Health has switched to using hospitalists to provide around-the-clock, on-site, focused care throughout a patient’s stay.

      It’s a win-win because primary care physicians who use the hospitalists’ services are freed up from the complexities of hospital medicine and can focus on caring for scheduled patients who come into their office, and patients benefit because the hospitalists are right there, inside the hospital, available at any hour of the day, every day of the week.

     “Because we don’t have the worry of seeing office patients,” says Francisco Daniels, DO, hospitalist on staff at Meritus Medical Center, “we’re able to be 100% dedicated to hospital patients.”

     This can also translate to increased availability of your primary care physician during office hours – no longer do they need to rush to the hospital to see hospital patients during a busy office day leaving a waiting room full of patients.

     It may seem a little scary – your primary care physician, who knows your entire health history, isn’t the one taking care of you in the hospital. But the truth is that primary care physicians can stay in constant communication with the hospitalists to follow their patients’ care, and after discharge, patients will return to their primary care physician for all of their follow-up needs. To ensure continuity in your care, hospitalists share a discharge summary on each patient with your primary care physician so that your family physician is up to speed before any follow-up appointments.

     Hospitalists also work closely with other specialists throughout the healthcare system – from gastroenterologists to cardiologists, depending on each patient’s needs. If a consultation with another specialist is needed, the hospitalist will discuss this with the patient and request the appropriate consultation.

     Another plus? Hospitalists reduce the amount of time patients stay in the hospital by about one day and lower overall costs by about $1,000, according to a study published in the American Journal of Managed Care.

By Kayla Murphy

6 comments:

  1. i think this is great.

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  2. Thanks! We think the hospitalist program is a great program too. :)

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  3. According to the report submitted by the Advisory Commission on Consumer Protection and the Quality in the Health Care Industry, the introduction of hospitalists in community hospitals, oh i mean Meritus Health Medical Center actually view this reform as a compromise to patient safety. not a derrogatory comment, pure fact

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    1. Sujana, In our experience since implementing a hospitalist program more than five years ago, we have seen the contrary. Our data indicates improvements in mortality and morbidity, and an improvement in patient satisfaction. Here are some of the benefits of hospitalist care:
      • Hospitalists are 100% dedicated to inpatient care. Because they spend all of their time in the hospital setting, they are experts in the issues that affect hospital patients. A report from the Society of Hospital Medicine (http://www.hospitalmedicine.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Issues_in_the_Spotlight1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=13117) states: Because hospitalists work routinely in an inpatient setting, they have enhanced knowledge of hospital operat¬ing procedures, greater familiarity with hospital staff and increased accessibility to patients. This routinization enhances their clinical expertise and enables them to recognize and appropriately treat the many medically complex patients who are admitted to the hospital. Their consistent presence in the hospital ensures their ability to see patients rapidly and repeatedly.
      • Research has also found that patients who are treated by hospitalists are in the hospital for less time, and their medical costs are reduced. A study published in the American Journal of Managed Care found that hospitalists reduced length of stay by about one day.
      One of our hospitalists also pointed out an important benefit that affects non-hospitalized patients. Primary care physicians who would otherwise have to juggle outpatient visits with hospital rounds are freed up to provide faster outpatient care because their schedules are not interrupted by hospital visits.

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  4. IT'S PRETTY SAD THAT YOU COME INTO THE HOSPITAL
    BY AMBULANCE WITH CHEST PAIN. WHEN THE HOSPITALIST FINALLY GETS TO YOUR ROOM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT. THE ONLY THING THAT HE DOES IS LEANS INTO YOUR FACE AND TELLS YOU THAT YOU NEED TO LOSE WEIGHT.

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    1. At Meritus Health, patient care is our top priority. As such, we welcome any feedback. Please send an email to kayla.murphy@meritushealth.com with your contact information and details of your experience so we can look into the situation.

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