What is a Hospitalist?

A hospitalist is a board-certified Internal Medicine or Family Medicine-trained physician who devotes their service to the well-being of those patients who are sick enough to be hospitalized.

Hospitalists improve care for hospitalized patients.

The term “hospitalist” is relatively new, having been coined in 1996. The need for these specialty practitioners emerged from the increasingly complex nature of hospital patient cases. Historically hospital patients were cared for by primary care providers and clinicians who split their time between outpatient clinics and patients admitted to the hospital, over time it became apparent that a hospitalist role could provide dedicated care to patients who are admitted to the hospital.

Hospitalists care for patients staying in the hospital, they treat an array of different medical conditions, coordinate care with specialists as well as a team of care providers in the hospital to ensure the patient’s needs are met while in the hospital and upon discharge. Hospitalists do not provide ongoing care after the patient leaves the hospital. Information from your hospital stay will be shared with your primary care provider or specialist to ensure a smooth transition from your hospital stay to your routine care provider.

Witham encourages all patients to regularly see their primary care and specialty providers for wellness and chronic care – this is one of the first steps to staying healthy. By partnering with our patients it will help to keep them healthy and at home. However should a patient need to be hospitalized, rest assured Witham has an excellent dedicated hospitalist team of physicians and advanced practice providers who coordinate care with the patient, their family and other members of the healthcare team during the hospital stay and work to ensure a smooth transition home.