Within the last decade, the term hospitalist has become a common term in the field of medicine, but not many people know what it means. A hospitalist is a physician that practices in hospital medicine. Normally, they are not specialists in a specific field of medicine. Most have family medicine and general internal medicine education and training. They focus on general medicine, which includes research, teaching, and patient care.

If you are admitted to a hospital, a doctor that works for that hospital, a hospitalist, will provide your care. Your primary care physician normally will not be the one to diagnose and oversee your injury or illness during your time in the hospital. A hospitalist will be assigned to your case and communicates with your family doctor on your status.

Hospitalists have the same medical training and education as other physicians, however, they just choose to practice in a hospital setting. They are able to diagnose and treat you in the same way as your family doctor but, their chosen setting is in a hospital. They also tend to take on additional roles in assisting the overall system of the hospital.

One advantage to having dedicated hospital physicians is that it reduces the amount of time that your family practitioner will be out of the office for hospital visits. He/she can continue attending to patient appointments while the hospitalist tends to those patients in the hospital. A second advantage is that hospitalists are well known and familiar with their particular hospital. Since their days are spent there, they know the staff and have resources in other doctors should they need assistance. A third, and very important, advantage is that they are readily available for anyone in need of immediate care. There is not a wait time for your primary physician to travel to the hospital. The hospitalists are there and ready to help at any given time.

To get in contact with a hospitalist in southwest Florida region, conduct a search on IPALC.org