Coined first by Robert Wachter and Lee Goldman in a 1996 New England Journal of Medicine article[1], the term hospitalist has come to represent a rapidly growing segment of physicians who are dedicated to delivering comprehensive medical care to acutely ill hospitalized patients. In addition to providing their core roles in the daily management of patients in the hospital setting, hospitalists also seek to improve the efficiency and performance of healthcare systems as patients transition from the inpatient setting back to the outpatient setting with their primary care physicians. As the role of hospitalists in transition of care back to the office setting increases, the locations where these services are provided have now expanded past the traditional hospital setting to include subacute rehabilitation centers, extended care facilities and long-term acute care facilities.
The Society of Hospital Medicine defines hospital medicine and hospitalist as follows:
Hospital medicine: A medical specialty dedicated to the delivery of comprehensive medical care to hospitalized patients. Practitioners of hospital medicine include physicians (“hospitalists”) and non-physician providers who engage in clinical care, teaching, research, or leadership in the field of general hospital medicine. In addition to their core expertise managing the clinical problems of acutely ill, hospitalized patients, hospital medicine practitioners work to enhance the performance of hospitals and healthcare systems by:
- Prompt and complete attention to all patient care needs including diagnosis, treatment, and the performance of medical procedures (within their scope of practice).
- Employing quality and process improvement techniques
- Collaboration, communication, and coordination with all physicians and healthcare personnel caring for hospitalized patients
- Safe transitioning of patient care within the hospital, and from the hospital to the community, which may include oversight of care in post-acute care facilities.
- Efficient use of hospital and healthcare resources
Hospitalist: A physician who specializes in the practice of hospital medicine. Following medical school, hospitalists typically undergo residency training in general internal medicine, general pediatrics, or family practice, but may also receive training in other medical disciplines. Some hospitalists undergo additional post residency training specifically focused on hospital medicine, or acquire other indicators of expertise in the field, such as the Society of Hospital Medicine’s Fellowship in Hospital Medicine (FHM) or the American Board of Internal Medicine’s Recognition of Focused Practice (RFP) in Hospital Medicine.
Approved By SHM Board November 4, 2009 [2]
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[1] Wachter R, Goldman L (1996). “The emerging role of “hospitalists” in the American health care system”. N Engl J Med 335 (7): 514–7.doi:10.1056/NEJM199608153350713. PMID 8672160.
[2] Definition of a Hospitalist and Hospital Medicine (2012). Retrieved from Society of Hospital Medicine.