The next time you or a loved one has to spend time in a hospital, you may encounter a new kind of physician: a hospitalist.
Hospitalists are physicians who specialize in the general medical care of hospitalized patients. They typically have very limited or no outpatient responsibilities – that way, they can devote their full time and attention to patients who are in the hospital. Once patients are admitted, the hospitalist takes on responsibility for their care for the entirety of the patients' stay, while keeping patients' regular doctors fully informed and in the loop of care. After discharge, care reverts back to patients' personal physicians.
Hospitalists may work for hospitals, physicians' groups or managed care organizations. Today, there are approximately 30,000 practicing hospitalists in the U.S.
"We are pleased to offer our patients the full spectrum of hospitalist services at Lutheran Medical Center," says Claudia Caine, executive vice president and hospital director/chief operating officer. "The hospitalist role is based on the concept that the more experience a physician has with in-hospital care, the better the quality of care. Our patients directly benefit from that."
Some research has proven this to be true. Hospitalists do tend to offer increased experience with inpatient conditions and procedures. And hospitalists don't have to juggle a busy office schedule with hospital rounds. The hospital is, in effect, their office. This often results in shorter hospital stays, because hospitalists are on hand full time to order tests and approve discharges.
In addition to the benefits they provide in the hospital setting, hospitalists also can improve the quality of care and patient satisfaction in physicians' offices. Office-based physicians who work with hospitalists don't have to make frequent trips to the hospital, so they can instead concentrate more fully on their office appointments and calls.
Patients who may be a little uncomfortable at the prospect of seeing a different doctor while they are in the hospital can rest assured that their personal physician will be fully informed and involved. Hospitalists inform patients' personal physicians of all major decisions made in the hospital and send them complete discharge summaries.
Hospitalist Service at Lutheran Medical Center
- 24/7 on-site inpatient coverage
- Efficient and timely care
- Fast response to emergencies
- Immediate communication with your primary care physician throughout your stay
- Increased coordination of medical care between subspecialties and other providers
- A comprehensive discharge summary that includes any tests performed during hospitalization is sent to the primary care physician
- Personalized communication with patients and family members
- Arab Community Hospitalist
- Chinese Community Hospitalist
Meet Our Hospitalists
Firas Alhaddad, M.D., attending physician, is Lutheran's newest full-time hospitalist, fluent in English and Arabic, specializing in pulmonary and critical care medicine. Dr. Alhaddad acts as the patient hospitalist, coordinating inpatient care at Lutheran, while regularly communicating with each patient's primary care physician. Dr. Alhaddad graduated from Damascus University in Damascus, Syria, and earned a Doctor of medicine with Distinction in 2005. He completed internal medicine residency training at Lutheran Medical Center and completed his fellowship in pulmonary and critical care at Downstate University.
Myint Myint Aye, M.D., attending physician, joined Lutheran in 2011. She previously served as a hospitalist and residency program director at New York Downtown Hospital. Prior to her time with New York Downtown Hospital., Dr. Aye practiced and studied medicine in Yangon, Myanmar. Reflective of Lutheran's strong tradition of cultural competency, Dr. Aye is fluent in English, Mandarin and Burmese, and also speaks Cantonese. Dr. Aye is a member of the Society of Hospital Medicine, American College of Physicians and the Myanmar Medical Association. She is ACLS/BLS certified and certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine. Dr. Aye was also the recipient of the Sukumaran Teaching Award at New York Downtown Hospital.
For more news follow Lutheran HealthCare on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Foursquare:
Twitter - http://twitter.com/LutheranHC
Facebook - http://facebook.com/LutheranHealthCare
YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/user/LutheranHealthcare
LinkedIn - http://tinyurl.com/mycsas
foursquare - http://foursquare.com/lutheranhc
