Hospital Based Medicine / Hospitalist Program
What is a Hospitalist?
Hospitalists are specially trained, acute-care physicians whose primary focus is a patient's daily hospital care from admission through discharge. Hospitalists coordinate care directly with a patient's primary care physician, as well as with other specialists and the nursing staff.
Currently, there are 15,000 Hospitalists practicing in the United States and Canada and that number is expected to double within three years.
According to the Society of Hospitalist Medicine, 85% of Hospitalists are trained in internal medicine, and most are board certified. Many have also completed subspecialty fellowships and are board certified in areas such as pulmonary and critical care medicine. Besides patient care, their other responsibilities may also include teaching and research.
Benefits of a Hospitalist
Hospitalists are on-site when the patient or a family member has a question regarding care, and can check up on the patient as needed. Upon a patient's discharge, Hospitalists can also help to coordinate specialized care such as physical therapy, respiratory therapy and social services if needed.
Other Benefits a Hospitalist Service can provide are:
- Comprehensive care that is closely coordinated with Hospital Services
- Better communication between the Hospital and the Primary Care Physicians (PCP's)
- Decreased length of stay
- Improved patient satisfaction
- More time for PCP's to spend in their office practices
- Relieve congestion in the Emergency Department
Working Together
An increasing number of primary care physicians are choosing to focus their professional efforts on outpatient care, relying on Hospitalists to provide medical care for their patients during their hospital stays.
In an effort to support community physicians, Saint Francis Hospital and Medical Center has expanded its Hospitalist Service to include two groups:
Pulmonary and Internal Medicine Associates (PULIMA), a private-practice physician group dedicated to in-patient medical care and support of the private practice medical community in the greater Hartford Area. PULIMA maintains close communication with the referring physicians and supports the role of the referring physicians to maintain their busy office practices while caring for their patients when hospitalization of their patients is necessary. Associates also hold teaching appointments at St. Francis Hospital and University of Connecticut.
Academic Inpatient Medical Services (AIMS) a hospital-based practice with the dual role of in-patient care and academic responsibilities for Internal Medicine Residents and Medical Students from UConn.
Admitting To A Hospitalist
To admit a patient to PULIMA, a Primary Care Physician can speak directly to our office staff or physicians or send their patient to the Emergency Room at Saint Francis and have them ask for a member of the Hospitalist group they choose to use.
PULIMA accepts patient referrals from primary care physicians and the Emergency Department. The section of Hospital Medicine at Saint Francis holds both groups to the same rigorous standards of high-quality patient care and close communication with primary care physicians.
Caring For Your Patients
The goals of the Hospitalist Service are to:
- Satisfy the needs of the referring physician
- Provide high-quality care to the patients
- Communicate in a timely fashion with referring physicians
- Coordinate care between the referring physician and specialists of their choice
PULIMA Hospitalists work closely with specialists in treating patients, especially those with multiple ailments. If a specialist is needed, PCPs will be asked for their preference for their patient's care. If a specific specialist is not requested, specialists are consulted on a rotational basis. Following discharge, patients are sent back to their PCP for follow-up with all the information of their hospital stay transmitted back to the PCP to allow for optimal continuity of care.