Comparison of Hospital Resource Use and Outcomes Among Hospitalists, Primary Care Physicians, and Other Generalists

Authors:
Open Access
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Three dominant models of generalist care exist for adults hospitalized for medical diagnoses in the United States. For some patients, their primary care physician (PCP) serves as the attending physician during a hospitalization. For others, a hospitalist (a generalist physician who focuses primarily on hospitalized patients) serves as the attending physician. Finally, some patients are cared for by a cross-covering generalist who is neither the patient’s PCP nor a hospitalist (eg, physicians in group practices may cover inpatient admissions for the practice for a few weeks per year). These practice patterns reflect trade-offs between familiarity with the patient and expertise in hospital care. The association between these trade-offs and patient outcomes has not been extensively investigated.

This publication has 28 references indexed in Scilit: