Support our online development, and advance our onground research initiatives in free market economics, as we seek to showcase the brightest Next-Gen minds.
THE ME-P DISCLAIMER: Posts, comments and opinions do not necessarily represent iMBA, Inc., but become our property after submission. Copyright © 2006 to-date. iMBA, Inc allows colleges, universities, medical and financial professionals and related clinics, hospitals and non-profit healthcare organizations to distribute our proprietary essays, photos, videos, audios and other documents; etc. However, please review copyright and usage information for each individual asset before submission to us, and/or placement on your publication or web site. Attestation references, citations and/or back-links are required. All other assets are property of the individual copyright holder.
The Human Resource Management Report
Staff Reporters
According to a study published in Human Resource Management, hospitals that employ the hospitalist model-of-care delivered better patient outcomes.
The Study
The study explored the differences between hospitalists and traditional models of care, measuring performance outcomes in more than 6,000 cases at Newton-Wellesley Hospital in Massachusetts between July 2001 and July 2003. At the time of the study, hospitalists treated approximately one-third of the hospital’s patients, and private practice physicians treated the remaining two-thirds.
The Results
Compared to the traditional approach, researchers found that the hospitalist model:
-
Decreased the length of patient stay by about half a day and reduced costs to the hospital by $655 per patient;
-
Reduced the risk of re-admission by 41.8 percent, a key measure of quality performance in hospitals;
-
Improved coordination of care 13.2% by increasing the strength of relationships between physicians and other members of the care provider team.
Assessment
The study was reported in the Society of Hospital Medicine, on November 17, 2008
Conclusion
What do you think? As always, your thoughts and comments on this Executive-Post are appreciated.
Related Information Sources:
Practice Management: http://www.springerpub.com/prod.aspx?prod_id=23759
Physician Financial Planning: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/0763745790
Medical Risk Management: http://www.jbpub.com/catalog/9780763733421
Healthcare Organizations: www.HealthcareFinancials.com
Health Administration Terms: www.HealthDictionarySeries.com
Physician Advisors: www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com
Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm
Subscribe Now: Did you like this Executive-Post, or find it helpful, interesting and informative? Want to get the latest E-Ps delivered to your email box each morning? Just subscribe using the link below. You can unsubscribe at any time. Security is assured.
Link: http://feeds.feedburner.com/HealthcareFinancialsthePostForcxos
Share this:
Filed under: Career Development, Health Economics, Health Insurance, Healthcare Finance, Monthly Reports | Tagged: hospital medicine, hospitalists |
The Leading Business Education Network for Doctors, Financial Advisors and Health Industry Consultants 
On Doctor Anonymous,
According to Robert Wachter, MD, a new study in the Archives of Internal Medicine [AIM], by Vinny Arora and colleagues, found that vanishingly few hospitalized patients could name any of their hospital doctors.
Check it out yourself.
Link: http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/short/169/2/199
Tom Drezden
LikeLike
Did you know that the US is the only country in the Western world that has 3 separate tracts for generalist medicine: pediatrics, internal medicine, and family practice? And, several prominent physician bloggers recently debated the issue over at Medscape.
Of course, there are significant differences between family practice and internal medicine training, but it boils down to internal medicine residents spending more time in the hospital setting. But, with the numbers of internal medicine residents choosing primary care declining at such an alarming rate, before long, the whole issue may be moot. The lack of applicants will lead to the eventual extinction of the primary care internist.
So, as long as hospital medicine is thriving, Kevin Pho MD predicted that general internal medicine will continue to be strong, distinct specialty, albeit one solely associated with hospital-based care. And, no doubt Bob Wachter MD would be pleased.
But, what happens when hospital admissions decrease; or preventative care initiatives actually take-hold; or retail clinics and out-patient care improves? Or, are hospital CEOs – and hospitalists – depending on the aging society to fill its beds.
Hello Medicare; national healthcare payers, etc?
Shall we say bye-bye to the hospitalists? After all, there is an indirect relationship here which seems to be philosophically antithetical to medical care today.
THINK: IOM report; never-events, nosocomial infections, etc.
Barbara
LikeLike
Tom and Barbara,
Are patients dis-respecting hospitalists? Read this report and decide for yourself:
http://www.kevinmd.com/blog/2009/07/are-patients-refusing-doctors-who-no-longer-do-hospital-work.html
Gerard
LikeLike
Here is an interesting article on hospitalists, and quality care, in the Wall Street Journal.
http://blogs.wsj.com/health/2009/08/10/do-hospitalists-improve-the-quality-of-care-in-hospitals/
Enjoy!
Ann Miller: RN, MHA
[Executive Director]
LikeLike
Where is the Duty?
Some states still prohibit hospitals from hiring doctors [Texas and California] and some physicians want to keep it that way. The purpose is to address rural shortages, but some physicians fear loss of autonomy.
http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2009/08/03/prl20803.htm
On the other hand, where does an MD’s “duty’ rest? To the patient or the hospital? This is similar to the broker-dealer / insurance agent dilemma that leads to all sorts of conflicts in the financial services sector.
Is this the beginning of the end, for docs as fiduciary professionals working in the best interest of the patient?
Chuck
LikeLike
Healthcare Co-ops?
Chuck, you are so right!
And, what about the new healthcare co-operative models, rather than the soon to be aborted public health model.
Co-ops employ physicians and own health-care facilities, giving them greater power to control the delivery of care. But, who do they work for; the co-op or the patient? Follow the money!
Wexford
LikeLike
Hospitalist’s productivity improves with lower base salary; new report indicates.
A lower base salary means increased productivity and higher overall compensation for hospitalist physicians.
http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/hospitalist-productivity-improves-lower-base-salary-report-indicates
Lawrence
LikeLike