I’m always interested in what Robert Wachter, hospitalist thought leader, has to say on the state of the field. He was recently interviewed by Internal Medicine World Report. Points of interest:
Rise of hospitalists and decline of primary care: true, true and unrelated in Wachter’s opinion. Not sure I agree.
How many hospitalists are needed? 30,000 to 50,000, perhaps, more than previously estimated.
What makes the difference between a good program and a bad one? Communication---with families and primary care docs.
In my local community ( Southern New Hampshire...there have been at least 14 physicians that I know directly that left primary care internal medicine and went into local hospitalists programs. No doubt about it there is a huge effect on primary care manpower with hopsitalists programs opening up everywhere.
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