AM I ALONE HERE

Floyd Memorial Hospital has embarked in a new direction. They now have “Hospitalists.” These are physicians who only see patients while they are in the hospital and do not take care of any patients outside the hospital setting.

If you get admitted through the emergency room and do not have a physician with privileges at Floyd Memorial, then you will be assigned to one of the Hospitalists. They will manage your medical care, consult other physicians as necessary, and send a summary to your personal physician for follow-up care after the discharge. And yes, they will bill you for the services they provide to you.

If your physician currently has privileges at Floyd Memorial, he/she will likely continue to care for you while hospitalized. There may be a few physicians who decide that they want to give up taking care of hospital patients and they may elect to turn that care over to the Hospitalists. It is important to ask your physician about this issue so you are not surprised when admitted. If you are currently looking for a physician in the area, this may be a question you will want to ask.

Hospitalists are reported to make hospital stays shorter in duration because of their efficiency. This supposedly saves money for someone, but as patients, they do not possess the personal knowledge about you that your own physician will have. They have not built the trusting relationship either that may make your hospital stay less stressful.

Only time will tell how they work out.