The expanding or shrinking universe of the hospitalist

The critical role of hospitalists in controlling healthcare costs

“…Fifth, and perhaps most fundamental to the future of our specialty, encouraging the broad professional development of hospitalists as a true specialists in inpatient medicine (based on the SHM Core Competencies,)29 could help minimize the unnecessary costs associated with specialist‐oriented care 6. With the desire to create, in the near future, a formal board‐certification in hospital medicine comes an obligation to develop broad knowledge and broad skill sets that are truly unique to our profession, whereas deferring to a specialist‐oriented pattern of care actually shrinks us down to something less than a traditional internist, rather than a unique entity 30. With our 24/7 focus on inpatient care, we should easily be able to demonstrate our superiority in safety, quality, and efficiency, all of which are closely linked to increased value per healthcare dollar.…”