Parrish Medical Center Hospitalists
What is a Hospitalist?
A Hospitalist is a physician who specializes in caring for patients who have been admitted to the hospital. Most hospitalists are generally internal medicine or family medicine physicians or pediatricians. Some hospitalists are trained as specialists in primary/critical care medicine, cardiology or other specialties.
Working in Coordination with Your Primary Care Physician
Many primary care physicians refer their patients to hospitalists when their patients are admitted to the hospital. During your hospital stay, PMC hospitalists will communicate with your primary care physician on a regular basis. After you go home from the hospital, you will see your family doctor for follow-up.
Hospitalists and Their Many Benefits
Our hospitalists keep a close eye on you. In case of emergency, PMC hospitalists are never very far. Your PMC hospitalist knows the specialists and departments at PMC and will assist you through a smooth and speedy recovery process by following up on tests and adjusting your treatment regimen throughout the day based on those test results.
PMC hospitalists answer your family’s questions. At PMC, our hospitalists are here to provide face-to-face answers whenever possible. Because our hospitalists are based in the hospital, they are able to spend time talking to you and your family about your care.
By covering hospitalized patients, PMC hospitalists allow primary care physicians to be more available to you. Because PMC hospitalists cover your primary care doctor’s hospitalized patients, your family doctor can be with you in his or her office with fewer delays and interruptions and can devote more time to keeping you and your family healthy. In turn, PMC hospitalists are more available to care for you when you are hospitalized.
How Does a Hospitalist Know About Me?
PMC hospitalists frequently talk to primary care physicians and will make every effort to obtain pertinent records from them. At the time of your admission to PMC, your primary care physician calls the hospitalist and informs him or her of your condition, similar to what a primary care physician does when he or she refers you to a specialist for another opinion or for additional tests and treatment.
During the course of your stay at PMC, the hospitalist will communicate with your primary care physician and any physician specialists that participate in your treatment. At discharge, the PMC hospitalist will ensure that the primary physician and physician specialists are involved in the post hospital plan of care and that they receive the medical records needed for your follow-up. PMC hospitalists will work with hospital case management to make sure that you receive the prescriptions, resources and information you need after discharge.