Hospitalist Program Works To Uphold Patients Quality, Safety

NEW MILFORD — Whether it is cardiology to treat the heart or orthopedics for bones and joints, specialization in medicine has been a key driver of dramatic improvements in all areas of health care. Primary care physicians (PCPs) rely upon a variety of specialists to ensure that their patients’ changing needs are addressed throughout life.

One of the fastest growing specialties since the mid-1990s has been that of hospital medicine — with most PCPs now deferring to physicians with special training to support the unique needs of their patients during hospitalization. These specialists are known as hospitalists.

After his appointment as president and CEO of New Milford Hospital in 2007, Joseph P. Frolkis, MD, PhD, FACP, cited further development of such a program as a primary goal for elevating the quality of care the hospital provides and for supporting its medical staff, who are increasingly faced with a myriad of clinical, logistical, and financial challenges in managing patients outside of the hospital.

New Milford Hospital embarked on a plan for more highly integrated inpatient care provided by an around-the-clock hospitalist team that includes physicians and advanced nurse practitioners. Led by Karim Namek, MD, director, the Hospitalist Program now encompasses Nami Bayan, MD, Juan Carlos Estupinan, MD, and Cristina Hung, MD; and nurse practitioners Lisa Haut, Janice Naum, and Karen Petrok.

An additional hospitalist physician is expected to join the team by year’s end.

Dr Frolkis said by specializing in the care of hospitalized patients, hospitalists can stay abreast of the constantly evolving field of acute care medicine.

“Studies have documented improvements in outcomes and decreases in length of hospital stays when care is managed by hospitalists,” he said. “At the same time, hospitalists allow community-based physicians to spend more time in their offices, be more accessible to their patients, and remain at the top of their game in the equally dynamic field of primary care.”

Because hospitalists are less familiar in New Milford than in other areas of the country where the movement has been in place longer, Dr Frolkis said patients are sometimes confused when their PCPs do not appear in the hospital.

“It’s our job, and the job of the community physicians, to educate our patients about this new specialty, and make sure they understand the many advantages it represents for their health care,” he added.

According to the Society of Hospital Medicine, the mission of hospitalists is to promote the highest quality care for hospitalized patients, and enhance the practice of hospital medicine through education, research, and advocacy. In 2006, the society estimated that there were 20,000 hospitalists in the profession, and that there would be 30,000 by the end of the decade — mostly coming from internal medicine, general pediatrics, family practice, and obstetrics.

About 85 percent of practicing hospitalists are trained in internal medicine, with about five percent completing subspecialty fellowships, pulmonary/critical care being the most common. The term “hospitalist” was coined by Drs Robert Wachter and Lee Goldman in a New England Journal of Medicine article in 1996. Subsequently, the National Association of Inpatient Physicians (NAIP) was founded, changing its name to the Society of Hospital Medicine in 2003.

For more information on New Milford Hospital, visit www.newmilfordhospital.org.