“Hospitalists Don’t Do It Like We Do. We’re Better.”

>
By  |  February 12, 2012 | 

How often do we hear declarative statements rooted in dogma, propagated over decades?  Countless times, physicians providing continuity care for chronically ill patients “assume” that by the very nature of that continuity, they outperform doctors not in that station, especially as it relates to intimate tasks.  “Hospitalists are ill equipped to obtain advanced directives; they don’t know the patient like I do,” or something to that effect.

That may be the case, but I suspect community docs are not completing the mission.  This is not a spiteful statement, but an observation rooted in experience and evidence.

The system is broke, and while I am sure community docs do know their patients thoroughly, that is not the focus of my post.  What is is that same intimacy and whether a physician penetrates it to achieve a consequential end—in this case a “break glass in case of emergency” portfolio.  That takes time and emotional energy, and both are in short supply.  As doctors, we are all men amongst equals in that domain.

Two recent studies highlight and speak to this theme, and need incorporation into the mindset of those outwardly gazing into the hospital, often harshly.  Hospitalists may be not be outperforming, although I don’t suspect this is the case.  Its outpatient physicians underperforming—and this is an important distinction.  Awareness is lacking and consequently, fingers are waving in the wrong direction.

The first study concerns end of life discussions with terminally ill cancer patients and their timing.  The investigators reviewed both charts and conducted interviews with families or patients.  The physicians responsible for these conversations were mostly medical oncologists or primary care physicians.  From below, you can view the percentage of exchanges that occurred less than 30 days before death:

The study has other nuances but the key takeaway is despite the bonds that many of these doctors have with their patients, they still are delaying essential dialogs.  Granted, some information may not be obtainable as the written record or wishes from casual chats are not available; likewise, some diagnoses are sudden and death comes quickly.  However, even with this degree of latitude, performance is far from exemplary.

Again, this is a reminder of the current “gold standard” and the model benchmark.  They are not the same.  Far from ideal, this, a) serves as a humbling bromide for those convinced that the present state of affairs is adequate and a newer model cannot perform superiorly, and b) once again, conveys the difference between provider-patient relationships and how it translates to actual care delivery.

In the next study, an observational investigation of over 8200 patients cared for over 6 years by 347 physicians at 3 hospitals, the authors sought to determine differences in patient satisfaction between hospitalists and primary care physicians.  The found that patient satisfaction with inpatient care provided by the two groups was almost identical:


Does discontinuity matter?  Is the common refrain, often cited in the lay press as a downside to hospitalist care, “they have no history with the patient,” implying our model must be bad?  At least in this trial, the answer is no.  We do know HM variability is immense, and groups are in different states of maturation.  However, times have changed and so must the paradigm.

We cannot overlook the differences at the doctor or practice versus a population level however.  My bet is a primary care physician absolutely committed to his or her patients, practicing in the model of yore, available 24/7 or close to it, will be the choice provider for most people.  That is what I would want.  However, yearning for this arrangement is illusory, as we know.

It is not all about the money either–as you might be thinking.  No, it is the speed and complexity of hospital care, and how difficult it is to “do it all.”  Unfortunately, the pace of change in the perceptions of those outside the hospital is not as rapid.  Contrary to popular opinion though, perceptions do not follow practice.

 

Share This Post

2 Comments

  1. Bill Rifkin February 13, 2012 at 11:14 am - Reply

    Brilliant as usual. Were that all blogs so evidence based! Also a great reminder that simply being “as good as” is not enough. Like most comparisons to the “good old days”, it bears reminding (as you did) that they weren’t so good. Plus, the paradigm has changed and is not going to be re-created.

  2. […] Posted 2/13/12 on the Hospitalist Leader […]

Leave A Comment

For security, use of Google's reCAPTCHA service is required which is subject to the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.

About the Author: Bradley Flansbaum

Bradley Flansbaum, DO, MPH, MHM works for Geisinger Health System in Danville, PA in both the divisions of hospital medicine and population health. He began working as a hospitalist in 1996, at the inception of the hospital medicine movement. He is a founding member of the Society of Hospital Medicine and served as a board member and officer. He speaks nationally in promoting hospital medicine and has presented at many statewide meetings and conferences. He is also actively involved in house staff education. Currently, he serves on the SHM Public Policy Committee and has an interest in payment policy, healthcare market competition, health disparities, cost-effectiveness analysis, and pain and palliative care. He is SHM’s delegate for the AMA House of Delegates. Dr. Flansbaum received his undergraduate degree from Union College in Schenectady, NY and attended medical school at the New York College of Osteopathic Medicine. He completed his residency and chief residency in Internal Medicine at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in New York. He received his M.P.H. in Health Policy and Management at Columbia University. He is a political junky, and loves to cook, stay fit, read non-fiction, listen to many genres of music, and is a resident of Danville, PA.

Categories

Related Posts

By Gian Toledanes, DO
March 17, 2023 |  0
Ableism is a common yet misunderstood “–ism”. Yet the common thread that ties ableism and other –isms/ forms of discrimination like racism, sexism, and homophobia, is the belief that one group or identity is “less than” others. Specifically, ableism is discrimination of and prejudice against people with disabilities and is rooted in the belief that […]
By Suchita Shah Sata, MD, SFHM
November 15, 2022 |  0
When RaDonda Vaught, a registered nurse at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, was criminally prosecuted for a medication error, it sent shockwaves through the medical community. Over 20 years after the landmark National Academy of Medicine (NAM) report To Err is Human and over a decade after Peter Pronovost catapulted the scientific approach to patient safety, […]
By Suchita Shah Sata, MD, SFHM
September 30, 2022 |  0
If you were designing the perfect hospitalist job description, what would be the optimal workload to achieve high productivity? This was the crux of the discussion during September’s JHMChat. The conversation featured Drs. Marisha Burden, Moksha Patel, Mark Kissler, and Elizabeth Harry as well as researcher Angela Keniston, coauthors of “Measuring and driving hospitalist value: […]
Go to Top