When hospitalists attend to thorough communication and promptly deliver complete discharge summaries, family physicians can report to their patients that they know what happened in the hospital and poll their patients about their experiences in the hospital. In this way, hospitalists and referring physicians can cement their relationship as team members for the patient. The success of any hospitalist program, Dr. Becker believes, lies in “making sure you fulfill the promise of what hospital medicine generates, and that is a continuity of care … , obtaining front-end communication so that patients get the best care throughout their [hospital] stay, and then follow up with discharge summaries to the primary physician’s office.” TH
Gretchen Henkel is a regular contributor to The Hospitalist.
References
- Solet DJ, Norvell JM, Rutan GH, et al. Lost in translation: challenges and opportunities in physician-to-physician communication during patient handoffs. Acad Med. 2005 Dec;80(12): 1094-1099.
- Hruby M, Pantilat SZ, Lo B. How do patients view the role of the primary care physician in inpatient care? Am J Med. 2001;21;111(9B):21S-25S.
- Griffith CH III, Wilson JF, Langer S, et al. House staff nonverbal communication skills and standardized patient satisfaction. J Gen Intern Med. 2003 Mar;18(3):170-174.