HCPro.com: Hospitalist Management Advisor

This monthly newsletter offers the latest and greatest in hospitalist management strategies and techniques. You'll learn directly from other successful hospitalist programs what works and what doesn't. You'll also receive tips and information on the topics that matter most to your professional success.

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July 2008 (Volume 4, Issue 7)	view entire issue

Finding the right ratio of physicians and patients is essential for efficiency
As hospital reimbursement from insurance companies continues to drop and physician salaries rise, finding the right physician-to-patient balance is crucial to running a cost-effective hospitalist program. Richard E. Rohr, MMM, MD, FACP, vice president of medical affairs at Cortland (NY) Regional Medical Center, says hospitalist programs should consider quality of care when creating this balance. "There's a delicate blend of trying to increase the number of patients your physicians can see on a daily basis with the number of patients your physicians can give safe, efficient care [to]," he says.

Transitioning from family medicine to hospital medicine
Editor's note: This article is the second in a series that will explore the benefits of using family medicine hospitalists as a response to the current hospitalist shortage. David Hoffmann, DO, worked for years in a community health center and family practice. He worked with a range of people and procedures, from babies to adults, from routine checkups to not-so-routine flexible sigmoidoscopies. He loved the clinical and personal aspects of the job equally. So when Chambersburg (PA) Hospital approached him in 2003 to head its new hospitalist program, promising the same professional diversity he enjoyed as a family medicine (FM) physician, he didn't hesitate. In fact, he says his FM training and experience could not have prepared him better for such a rewarding transition.

Patient-physician ratio affects LOS, study says
An ideal model for patient care is one hospitalist per patient, with the physician overseeing his or her entire hospital stay. But in reality, this model isn't so easy to achieve. A new study, "The Impact of Fragmentation of Hospitalist Care on Length of Stay and Post-Discharge Issues," published by IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc., states that limiting the number of primary physicians that care for a patient during a length of stay (LOS) can have tremendous benefits. The study, presented in April at the Society of Hospital Medicine's annual meeting in San Diego, focused on patients with pneumonia and congestive heart failure (CHF) from December 2006-November 2007.

Real estate slump can affect hospitalist shortage
You've heard it before. The real estate market is in the midst of a colossal nosedive. The values of homes are plummeting. If you're a hospitalist program director, though, the bad news doesn't end there. Research from Delta Physician Placement, a national healthcare staffing agency in Dallas, suggests the current decline in the real estate market might be affecting hospitalist programs, namely efforts to recruit and hire physicians from out of town. Scott Hurst, the director of consulting at Delta, says he first heard about the possible connection between the real estate market and recruitment struggles when casually speaking with a hospital colleague in 2007.

Other recently-published articles from Hospitalist Management Advisor:

Succeed with protected time

Experts say quality surveys flawed

Quality improvement is a team sport

The pros and cons of geographic rounds

Rapid rise of surgical hospitalists

Program value boils down to implementation

ED-to-inpatient transfers are flawed with safety gaps

Develop a smarter training program

Create partnership for successful selection

Diversity of duties and environment satisfies physicians

Technology and hospitalists: A complex relationship

Document growth plans for long-term stability

Preparing for P4P now a primary role for hospitalists

Streamline the welcome orientation process

Improve patient discharge with low-cost strategies for hospitalist-PCP communication

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