Tampa Hospitalists

A History of Hospital Medicine

1996

The Term "Hospitalist" First Enters the Lexicon

Robert Wachter, M.D., coined the term hospitalist in a 1996 New England Journal of Medicine article, coauthored by Lee Goldman, M.D.1 Both doctors were then affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco.

In their Sounding Board article on the emerging role of hospitalists in the American health care system, Drs. Wachter and Goldman expressed the view that developing a hospitalist specialty to care for inpatients was cost-effective and would lead to better health outcomes.

[1] Wachter RM. The Emerging Role of “Hospitalists” in the American Health Care System. New England Journal of Medicine. Published February 6, 1997.
2002

Hospitalist Model Proven Effective

A January 2002 comparative study1 on the hospitalist model in academic medical contexts showed improved cost savings and quality of care. Hospitalist programs lowered hospital costs by 13.4% and reduced length of stay for patients by 16.6%, while preserving patient satisfaction.

Later in the year, a December 2002 study2 in Annals of Internal Medicine focused on the effect of the hospitalist model in a community-based urban teaching hospital showed similar findings. The authors conclude that a voluntary hospitalist service at a community-based teaching hospital produced significant reductions in length of stay and costs, and a mortality benefit extending beyond hospitalization.

[1] Wachter RM. The Hospitalist Movement 5 Years Later. JAMA. Published January 23/30, 2002.
[2] Auberbach AD. Implementation of a voluntary hospitalist service at a community teaching hospital: improved clinical efficiency and patient outcomes. Annals of Internal Medicine. Published. Published December 3, 2002.

9 out of 10

hospitals with more than 200 beds reported that they have hospitalists

4 out of 5

of hospitalists specialize in internal medicine

60,000

physicians practice hospital medicine as of 2020

2007

Hospitalists Reduce Acute Length of Stay

A study published in the Archives of Internal Medicine found that patients at academic medical centers employing hospitalist care enjoyed shorter hospital stays. This reduction in length of stay was greatest for patients requiring close clinical monitoring (patients with congestive heart failure, stroke, asthma, or pneumonia) and for those requiring complex discharge planning.1

[1] Southern WN. Hospitalist care and length of stay in patients requiring complex discharge planning and close clinical monitoring. Archives of Internal Medicine. Published on September 24, 2007.
2009

Majority of Medicare Patients Seen by Hospitalists

Prior to 2009, there was little national demographic data on the evident increase in patient care by hospitalists in the US. A March study published in NEJM1 analyzed data from Medicare claims to determine that there had been a substantial increase in the care of hospitalized patients by hospitalist and general internists from 46.4% in 1995 to 61% in 2006.

[1] Kuo YF. Growth in the Care of Older Patients by Hospitalists in the United States. NEJM. Published on March 12, 2009

Partner with TBIM Hospitalists

We work at every major hospital, nursing center, and rehabilitation center in the Tampa area, ensuring smooth transitions between health care settings for your patients. With TBIM taking good care of your inpatients, you can grow your practice without sacrificing quality of care.

2009

Hospitalist-Coordinated Care Teams Reduce Readmissions

Clinicians and researchers with expertise in hospital care and geriatric medicine came together to develop an intervention that would reduce readmissions among elderly patients by coordinating discharge better. The interventions occurred in three contexts: an academic medical center, a community teaching hospital, and a community-based nonteaching hospital. The results1 showed that discharge planning coordinated by hospitalists lowered the rate of readmissions and visits to the emergency department.

[1] Dedhia P. A Quality Improvement Intervention to Facilitate the Transition of Older Adults from Three Hospitals Back to Their Homes. Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. Published on August 28, 2009.
2016

20th Anniversary!

2017

Billing Code C6 Goes Live

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid introduces the C6 hospitalist specialty code to better benchmark hospitalists against other specialties. For the first time hospitalist utilization is given unique status by CMS, facilitating more accurate comparisons and assessments of hospitalist performance.

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