A new doctor in the house: hospital medicine in the United States

Within the past five years, the hospitalist model has emerged as a major new approach to inpatient medicine in the United States. Health care market forces, particularly the need for quality and efficiency in inpatient care, have served as the impetus for the model’s accelerated growth. A burgeoning literature reinforces the notion that hospitalists improve efficiency of care and likely enhance education and quality of care. Hospitalists continue to make favorable impressions on the medical field as leaders in the practice, teaching, and research of hospital medicine as well as in the implementation of quality improvement initiatives. Despite concerns about the potential fragmentation of care, the risk of burnout among hospitalists, and low financial reimbursements, the hospitalist model has continued to grow and flourish. Patients and primary care physicians are increasingly accepting of the field, especially as hospitalists develop novel ways to improve communication at the interface of hospital and ambulatory practice.