Are you considering taking a hospital medicine course or looking for hospitalist jobs in Florida but aren’t sure what your roles and responsibilities will be? Hospitalists in the healthcare system play an essential role in providing around-the-clock care to hospitalized patients and improving the efficiency of hospitals. This article defines hospitalists and discusses their roles and responsibilities in the healthcare system.
What Are Hospitalists?
Hospitalists are physicians who are specifically trained in the care of hospitalized patients, as opposed to other physicians who treat patients both inside and outside of hospitals. They are highly qualified doctors who specialize in hospital medicine and work exclusively as part of the hospital staff.
Most hospitalists complete a residency in internal medicine, pediatrics, or family medicine. Only a tiny percentage of hospitalists choose to specialize in areas such as gynecology, neurology, and obstetrics. With that said, what exactly do hospitalists do?
Duties of a Hospitalist
Hospitalists must collaborate with their peers from other medical specialties [mfn]https://www.sgu.edu/blog/medical/ultimate-list-of-medical-specialties/[/mfn] to provide the best care possible to patients in the hospital. Typical roles and duties and hospitalists include:
To Lead the Medical Team and Coordinate Care for Inpatients
A hospitalist provides acute-care hospital services and generally cares for patients while they are admitted to the hospital, but they may also provide follow-up care if needed. The role of a hospitalist is not limited to caring for patients. It also includes leading other members of the medical team as well as coordinating any referrals or transfers.
For example, physicians must trust the specialist’s judgment when providing consultations on cases that do not fall under their specialization. One thing that hospitalists often do is coordinate these consults from an outpatient setting by assisting physicians with diagnosis and treatment.
Examine Admitted Individuals
When a patient is admitted to the hospital, a hospitalist evaluates their medical condition and plans their care while they are there. In addition to being knowledgeable about general medicine, many hospitalists have specialized training in such areas as cardiology or pulmonology.
Some patients will be cared for by a resident doctor or nurse practitioner [mfn]https://sflcn.com/what-is-the-difference-between-a-nurse-practitioner-and-a-doctor/[/mfn] who reports to the hospitalist. In addition, hospitalists often work closely with social workers to arrange follow-up care or other services after discharge from the hospital.
Hospitalists Analyze Test Results and Order Treatments
Hospitalists typically stay at a hospital full-time while they are on duty. They work as multidisciplinary team members, often led by a physician. Their responsibilities may also involve analyzing test results and ordering treatments.
For hospitalists to make quick decisions, they must have access to 24-hour diagnostic services, such as lab testing and imaging scans, such as X-rays or CTs. In addition, they will liaise with specialists if the need arises, making arrangements for patients to be transferred out of the hospital.
Improve Quality and Process to Improve Patient Outcomes
Hospitalists can use quality and process improvement strategies to serve their patients better. For instance, by tracking metrics at each stage, hospitals can identify problem areas and implement fixes to boost the quality of care they provide. In addition, hospitals can learn what types of safety incidents are more and less likely to cause harm by measuring these incidents.
Use Hospital and Healthcare Resources Efficiently
Juggling multiple priorities while effectively using limited resources is essential in hospital medicine. Hospitalists play a crucial part in an interdisciplinary team charged with providing safe, high-quality care to patients based on the best available evidence without wasting resources.
Should I Pursue This Career Path?
Hospital medicine could be the perfect fit for you if you enjoy taking charge of a wide range of patient care responsibilities [mfn]https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0207361[/mfn] and collaborating with a wide range of healthcare professionals. But if controlling every aspect of patient care overwhelms you, you should probably reconsider this career choice. But, first, you need to check out some of the benefits, drawbacks, perks, and facts of hospital medicine to see if this is a path you want to pursue.
Benefits of hospital medicine include:
- Working closely with other medical professionals
- Excellent opportunities for personal growth and leadership development
- Easy access to specialized resources like new technology
- Research opportunities into diseases or treatments
Some disadvantages are:
- Long hours can lead to burnout
- Lack of time off can cause stress and anxiety levels to become unmanageable without seeking help professionally
Wrap Up
Hospital medicine practitioners provide direct patient care and educational, research, and administrative services in hospitals. These professionals deal with and treat various complicated and coexisting medical conditions. While hospitalists may sometimes feel overburdened, their dedication is critical to maintaining healthy hospital patient populations.
