Hospitalists?

[YankeeHater]

I am hearing rumors about our facility starting a hospitalist program and I'm not sure what to think.. This is a small hospital where currently we have internists or family practice docs that take turns with call. Anyone have opinions, either positive or negative with this type of thing? Specifically with regard to night shift.. I can't imagine a doc sticking around all night..is that what it's like with a hospitalist or would we still just call them at home and wake them up like we do now?

Thanks!

[rnmi2004]

Of all the medical groups I deal with while working nights, the hospitalists are the easiest and usually the quickest to get a hold of. We have 1-2 on call on nights (awake, in-house) plus a PA or 2.

GrannyRN, I'd say your insurance company is trying to weasel out of payment. Who exactly did they expect to treat you in the hospital? If your family MD does not have attending privileges at your hospital, then the hospitalists will treat you. And if you went to a hospital in-network, the insurance company should be paying the physicians who treated you, without denying your claim.

[retiredlady]

Hospitalists are good for the nurse, but not sometimes for the patient. As the patient you have to go over all your medical history again and then sometimes they don't remember something. They tend to order too many tests that aren't needed and this can be expensive for the patient with poor insurance. Sometimes the patient really doesn't click with the doctor and they are stuck with him. I have been on both sides.

[ObtundedRN, BSN, RN]

I work at a teaching hospital. So when I'm working a night shift and need to call a MD, I hope that I open my chart to find the hospitalist is who is on call. I prefer calling them instead of a intern/resident, because I know they are in the hospital and awake. The intern will be in the hospital too, but probably half asleep in an on call room. Also, with the hospitalist, I'm calling a fully trained attending, not an intern/resident.

The down side, they are not always the primary doc for the patient. Sometimes they are only there for the overnight call. When this is the case, depending on which doc is on call (there is usually a couple in the hospital but they take turns with the pager), you may get the orders you want, or you may get just enough orders to hold things over until morning. One in particular will give me whatever I ask for (as long as you ask for something appropriate), and then there are others that want to do as little as possible so they don't **** off the primary.

[HappyJaxRN]

I am hearing rumors about our facility starting a hospitalist program and I'm not sure what to think.. This is a small hospital where currently we have internists or family practice docs that take turns with call. Anyone have opinions, either positive or negative with this type of thing? Specifically with regard to night shift.. I can't imagine a doc sticking around all night..is that what it's like with a hospitalist or would we still just call them at home and wake them up like we do now?

Thanks!

We have hospitalists. They were pretty good, most of them. I used to call them a lot when I worked nightshift. I have been on days lately and haven't had much contact. They came in very handy if a particular medical team was not answering my pages and I needed immediate medical assistance. I liked having them. Just my two cents.

[Caffeine_IV]

I love the hospitalist system. These MDs get paid to be available at night. They are in-house admitting patients and available to see a patient on the floor if they are going bad. I haven't had a problem with them yet.

I LOVE not having to wake up the internal med doctors at home as before.

THOSE doctors are much more pleasant as well since they don't take nighttime call!

[grannyrn65]

rnmi2004 said:

Of all the medical groups I deal with while working nights, the hospitalists are the easiest and usually the quickest to get a hold of. We have 1-2 on call on nights (awake, in-house) plus a PA or 2. GrannyRN, I'd say your insurance company is trying to weasel out of payment. Who exactly did they expect to treat you in the hospital? If your family MD does not have attending privileges at your hospital, then the hospitalists will treat you. And if you went to a hospital in-network, the insurance company should be paying the physicians who treated you, without denying your claim.

My Primary Care physician has admitting privileges. I knew he would be out of town over the holidays. When I was admitted, I expected one of the other partner's to see me. I was surprised when the hospitalist showed up in my room. Apparently the office staff of the practice was surprised as well. They were informed that a hospitalist would be taking care of any admissions until January 4, 2010 ( I was asked by them how he did). My hospital is in-network but the hospitalist is not. They do their own billing, separate from the hospital. They finally paid a portion of his claim. I paid what I figured was fair. He has objected.