Concerns about continuity of care under the new standard are “reasonable and legitimate,” says Dr. Dressler. “From a hospital medicine standpoint, that is how we practice: We are frequently handing off care. We understand that there is an inherent potential risk of doing that, and we like to be able to teach and train residents and students to understand how to do that effectively as part of their practice. Because hospitalists do this daily, we have an understanding of how to train people to optimally handoff patients to other clinicians and/or transition patients to other care settings or the outpatient arena.”
Dr. Dow views his hospitalist group as a sort of a “free safety,” taking care of patients that residents may not be able to take care of. “I view hospitalists as problem-solvers. Whether it’s a specific patient with a medical or social need, or a system problem, our big role is in filling those needs,” he says. “When patients need to be admitted and no other group is available, my hospitalist group is ready to care for folks.” TH
Gretchen Henkel is based in California.
References:
- Lin GA, Beck DC, Garbutt JM. Residents’ perceptions of the effects of work hour limitations at a large teaching hospital. Acad Med. 2006 Jan;81(1):63-67.
- Vidyarthi AR, Katz PP, Wall SD, et al. Impact of reduced duty hours on residents’ educational satisfaction at the University of California, San Francisco. Acad Med. 2006 Jan;81(1):76-81.