What is a Hospitalist?

Updated November 29, 2022 · 1 Min Read

When you are hospitalized, your primary care physician will likely not be the one who oversees your care. One of the most common inquiries made in modern healthcare by patients is the question of why their primary care physician isn't the one who sees them when they are in the hospital, and the answer to ...

BestValueSchools.com is an advertising-supported site. Featured or trusted partner programs and all school search, finder, or match results are for schools that compensate us. This compensation does not influence our school rankings, resource guides, or other editorially-independent information published on this site.

Are you ready to discover your college program?

When you are hospitalized, your primary care physician will likely not be the one who oversees your care. One of the most common inquiries made in modern healthcare by patients is the question of why their primary care physician isn't the one who sees them when they are in the hospital, and the answer to that is one of the newest trends in healthcare for hospitalized patients: hospitalist care.

As can be easily inferred from the name, hospitalists are medical professionals who are exclusively trained for the process of providing care for patients who are going through an in-house hospital stay. The major influx of hospitalists occurred approximately 10 years ago, and since it's inception, the care that hospitalists provide has developed greatly in terms of efficiency and patient welfare.

Financial Efficiency

One of the biggest reasons for the shift from primary care physicians to hospitalists has been the factor of financial efficiency. Primary care doctors were oftentimes challenged by the strict financial constraints put upon them by having to care for patients in the hospital, which led to the process of brainstorming for ha way for patients in the hospital could get their care without the same level of financial strain being put on the medical staff. The answer the question of how to ease the financial strain of caring for hospitalized patients was the role of hospitalists, which is not only cost-effective, but provides a more positive prognosis for patients in the hospital in general.

More In-House Patient Safety

Hospitalists are not just a more cost-efficient way of providing care for hospitalized patients, but also a way to ensure that they are able to get the more specialized care that they need for certain circumstances. Because hospitalists are specifically trained in the way to care for hospitalized patients, all of their energy can be focused into the specific task of making sure that hospitalized patients are given the exact kind of care that they need while being looked after in the facility.

The lessened load on primary care doctors means that they have just as much energy and focus as they need to devote to their general priorities without being too stressed out or financially strained to perform to the best of their ability. Specialized care and more financially freed primary care doctors leads to a much more organized healthcare facility in general, which is highly valuable for keeping all the patients that the facility cares for safe.

From Internal Medicine Physician To Hospitalist

In most circumstances, hospitalists are board-certified internal medicine physicians who converted. Internal medicine physicians who become certified as hospitalists are generally in the possession of the same basic training that internal medicine doctors acquire in medical school, supplemented by a specialized series of training modules that are made specifically for the purpose of giving hospitalized patients the care that they need while in the facility for an extended stay.

Oftentimes, internal medicine physicians to choose to be hospitalists due to personal preferences. Internal medicine physicians who decide that there is a certain category of intensive care that they want to specialize in may find that their aims to care for patients are best accomplished by becoming a hospitalist who is specifically trained to act within the facility for the majority of their work.

See also: Top 9 Cheap Online Healthcare Administration Degree Programs (Bachelor's)

Get prepared for your next steps

Use articles and resources to uncover answers to common questions, get guidance on your goals, and learn about applying to schools.

Discover a program that is right for you.

Explore different options for you based on your degree interests.