My lesson is to embrace the changes; don’t fight it. As a hospitalist, your job is going to be different a year from now. We might as well get ready for the change, because there’s going to be a lot of change in the system.
–Dr. Greeno
Q: What is the future of the two-midnight rule?
A: The committee and SHM took that on several years ago at my urging because it didn’t seem like other specialties were leading that issue. It doesn’t affect hospitalists in terms of how we’re paid, but it does affect the patients we care for. I think we’ll have a better solution in the coming years.
Q: What should hospitalists be thinking about heading into 2016?
A: They should be starting to prepare for a world where they no longer get paid with fee-for-service. Hospitalists are in the post-acute setting, where a lot of the action takes place, and it’s the high-cost action. My lesson is to embrace the changes; don’t fight it. As a hospitalist, your job is going to be different a year from now. We might as well get ready for the change, because there’s going to be a lot of change in the system.
Kelly April Tyrrell is a freelance writer in Madison, Wis.