A Hospitalist is a physician who specializes in caring for patients who
have been admitted to the hospital. Most hospitalists are generally internal
medicine or family medicine physicians or pediatricians. Some hospitalists
are trained as specialists in primary/critical care medicine, cardiology
or other specialties.
Working in Coordination with Your Primary Care Physician
Many primary care physicians refer their patients to hospitalists when
their patients are admitted to the hospital. During your hospital stay,
PMC hospitalists will communicate with your primary care physician on
a regular basis. After you go home from the hospital, you will see your
family doctor for follow-up.
Hospitalists and Their Many Benefits
Our hospitalists keep a close eye on you. In case of emergency, PMC hospitalists are never very far. Your PMC hospitalist
knows the specialists and departments at PMC and will assist you through
a smooth and speedy recovery process by following up on tests and adjusting
your treatment regimen throughout the day based on those test results.
PMC hospitalists answer your family’s questions. At PMC, our hospitalists are here to provide face-to-face answers whenever
possible. Because our hospitalists are based in the hospital, they are
able to spend time talking to you and your family about your care.
By covering hospitalized patients, PMC hospitalists allow primary care
physicians to be more available to you. Because PMC hospitalists cover your primary care doctor’s hospitalized
patients, your family doctor can be with you in his or her office with
fewer delays and interruptions and can devote more time to keeping you
and your family healthy. In turn, PMC hospitalists are more available
to care for you when you are hospitalized.
PMC hospitalists frequently talk to primary care physicians and will make
every effort to obtain pertinent records from them. At the time of your
admission to PMC, your primary care physician calls the hospitalist and
informs him or her of your condition, similar to what a primary care physician
does when he or she refers you to a specialist for another opinion or
for additional tests and treatment.
During the course of your stay at PMC, the hospitalist will communicate
with your primary care physician and any physician specialists that participate
in your treatment. At discharge, the PMC hospitalist will ensure that
the primary physician and physician specialists are involved in the post
hospital plan of care and that they receive the medical records needed
for your follow-up. PMC hospitalists will work with hospital case management
to make sure that you receive the prescriptions, resources and information
you need after discharge.
