Expanding the roles of hospitalist physicians to include public health

Abstract

Several years after the inception of the hospitalist movement, hospitalist roles have evolved in breadth and sophistication. Although public health is not formally recognized or previously described as an arena for hospitalists, hospitalists are often engaged in public health practice. This article attempts to alert hospitalists to the potential to make contributions to the field of public health and defines the public health skills that can positively affect the lives of their patients and the communities they serve. In a public health role, hospitalists may improve the quality of inpatient care. This article reviews how public health and hospital-based practices have already intersected and proposes further development within this discipline. In our ever-changing health care system, hospitalists play key roles in the central public health domains of assessment, assurance, and policy development. Insightful hospitalists will recognize and embrace these responsibilities in caring for patients and society. Journal of Hospital Medicine 2007;2:93-101.

Hospitalized Women's Willingness to Pay for an Inpatient Screening Mammogram

“…10 Hospitalizations, when patients have time to reflect on their health in environments with a wealth of health care resources, may represent an opportunity for clinicians to optimize patients' care by establishing patientcentered care plans. 11 For this to become the norm would require a culture change in the field of hospital medicine and our nation's inpatient units. As hospitals become core components of accountable care organizations, screening must become easier to coordinate in all settings.…”

Underutilized time for health education of hospitalized patients

“…Although many disease management programs have been studied in the outpatient setting,14–17 very few have been extended into hospitals. Accordingly, hospitalists are ideally suited to develop and implement disease management programs in concert with outpatient efforts 18. Our study suggests there is an underutilized opportunity for hospital‐based physicians and other health care providers to work with patients at a time when they are uniquely focused on their own health and free from many of the time constraints of their normal lives.…”

Role of hospitalists in an offsite alternate care center (ACC) for pandemic flu

“…An influenza pandemic will require all levels of the healthcare system to work together to develop a coordinated approach to patient care. Previously, Kisuule et al24 described how hospitalists can expand their role to include public health. The hospitalists' leadership in the ACC fits well with their descriptions, and hospitalists should work with local, state, and national public health officials in pandemic flu planning.…”