"There were no statistically significant differences in in-hospital mortality, 30-day readmission and emergency room use, or patient satisfaction. Average length of stay was 0.05 days shorter for hospitalist patients but this was not statistically significant. Costs were also similar between the groups."The results were reported in the July/August 2005 issue of The Hospitalist, which is the official journal of the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM).
The study was not randomized. It is about time a well-designed randomized trial solved the issue if the hospitalist are useful or not. The common sense is that patients and hospitals benefit from physicians who are specialists in inpatient medicine but there have to be a proof of that. Common sense alone is not enough in today's evidence based medicine world.
References:
(link via MedicalRants.com)
Hospitalists serve no purpose - California Medicine Man.blogspot
Median adult hospitalist compensation up slightly to $220,619 in 2010 http://goo.gl/D9rHp
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