Therein rests the cultural healthcare quandary. Physicians need to accept the fact that standardization of medicine is going to happen, as it allows for improved efficiencies with a resultant decrease in healthcare expenditures. Yet the independent and entrepreneurial nature of physicians has caused them to resist the standardization of medicine for years. After all, while one fellow physician might treat a disease or perform a procedure differently than another, as long as it is efficacious, we all believe our peers should be able to practice the way they want.
Hospitalists are no different, as they are independent, too. They are simply working under the hospital umbrella. This relationship of working in hospitals positions HM practitioners, as a group, to be central players in the healthcare reform debate. This truly is a unique opportunity.
Looking demographically at the generational makeup of all physicians, we have four familiar groups represented: baby boomers, Gen X’ers, Gen Y’ers, and millennials. There are certain broad yet defining characteristics of these four generational groups. The baby boomers, being the offspring of the World War II generation, the generation that rebuilt the world and kept their “nose to the grindstone,” are defined by their work ethic. Simply put, boomers live to work. As children and students of the 1960s, they also value individuality.
Gen X’ers focus more on themselves, and often are referred to as the “me generation.” They expect to have a range of choices within their expression of individuality.
Gen Y’ers have a different work ethic, one their managers often find alarming. They are defined by the adage “work to live.” This dilemma, while difficult for their managers, allows Gen Y’ers to adapt to workplace practices, as their individuality is no longer of primary concern. After all, “it is only work.”
Millennials, having been brought up in the digital age, are bombarded with information and entertainment 24 hours a day. From birth on, they have heard that the future is uncertain. Demographically, they are more aligned with the work ethic of their great-grandparents, the World War II generation, and they are more willing to serve the common good. Thus, millennials, like Generation Y, are less individualistic and more willing to adapt to the work environment.
In considering hospitalists and their roles in the current healthcare debate and medical standards, this young specialty is uniquely poised to implement the upcoming standardizations required for three reasons. First, HM has an unusually large representation of Gen Y’ers and millennials—more than other medical specialties. These younger physicians, with their adaptability for the common good, are less resistant to the standardization of medicine.
Second, unlike most practitioners, hospitalists tend to practice in larger medical groups. Thus, they are familiar with standardization and the uniformity necessary for the group to practice effectively.
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Third, with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) adopting the experimental payment mechanism known as value-based purchasing, hospitals will insist on standardization to maximize reimbursement.
The benefits to HM practitioners are twofold. The hospitalist will share in reimbursement of pay-for-performance, thereby gaining a financial incentive for the greater efficiencies that standardization yields. This is evidenced by the trend that hospitalist contracts are increasingly based on pay-for-performance, rather than payment based on relative value units.
The second benefit, and perhaps the most important, is that the influence and power of hospitalists will greatly increase, particularly in formulating the standards of medical treatment, procedures, and, more importantly, QI and patient safety.
As the practice of HM matures from infancy into adolescence, recognizing the opportunity at hand and deciding how to proceed is paramount to its future position and existence.