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Hospitalists are Doctors who work only in the hospital. They are not
specialists. They are usually trained in internal medicine. They have
contracted with your doctor to provide all inpatient care. When you have
to be hospitalized you cannot choose your doctor. You will be assigned to
the hospitalist who is working that day. Even if you are admitted to the
same hospital within weeks you will have a new doctor each time.
Is My Doctor as Competent as a Doctor Who does Hospital Medicine?
Doctor competency is difficult to measure. Hospital care is just one aspect
of a doctors total skill. Yet some doctors have not taken care of patients
inside of a hospital for their whole professional career. One might ask the
same question of other professions. How confident would you be calling a
policemen if his main job consisted of writing parking tickets. How
confident would you be in a fireman who only rescued cats from trees. If
doctors only see the most trivial of illnesses they will not be as competent
as someone who works in and out of the hospital.
It is to no ones advantage in the healthcare system to tell you.
Corporations want your business. Hospitalists make hospitals
function efficiently. Insurance companies are interested in
streamlining care and reducing their own costs. Private Practice
Doctors do not like having to run to the hospital in the middle of
the night or on weekends. The only ones who lose out are the
patients.
What Can I do about this?
Switch to a doctor who is doing hospital medicine. Click on the link
below for a list in the South Puget Sound area. This list is not
complete and if you know of other primary care doctors who are
providing inpatient care have them contact me at daveschume@aol.
com. I will list them. Remember how small the organic food
movement was when it started. Now they are offering Organic
Foods at Wal-Mart. If enough patients voice their concerns the
Health Care System will again support physicians who provide
hospital care.
