HOSPITALISTS and PCPs
| Hospitalists are inpatient hospital specialists who oversees patient's care while patients are in hospital |
Hospitalists are inpatient hospital specialists who oversees patient's care while patients are in the hospital. It is a relatively new field of practice and appears to be growing with more than 3,500 doctors currently in practice. An issue of particular concern to both PCPs and hospitalists deals with medical malpractice. For example, who is held responsible to make sure proper care is rendered to the patient and all necessary follow-up communication between hospitalists and PCPs and patients are made. Currently there is no case law regarding malpractice and hospitalists because the programs are too new, but potential liability exists.
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Risk Management for PCPs in regards to Hospitalists
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According to the article by Mark Crane, "Malpractice: Who’s On the Hook," Medical Economics (March 6, 2000), during handoff from hospitalist, an inpatient specialist, to PCP, important information can fall through the cracks, exposing both doctors to liability.
Crane gives the following scenario in the article: patient is treated at hospital and is discharged and instructed to follow up with PCP. The next day a pathologist's report is corrected and what was thought to be benign is actually malignant. The hospitalist faxes the updated information to the wrong number, or the doctor's office is notified but he never gets the message, or a new employee doesn't understand the seriousness of the information and files the patient's chart before the physician sees it. The patient never returns for follow-up appointment. Six months later, the cancer is inoperable.
According to Crane's article, legally, hospitalist cases would be similar to cases involving emergency department doctors or any other specialist.
Advice according to Crane's article is to communicate and document. Relationship with patients survives after discharge, and physicians should ensure adequate follow up care and tell the patient about it. Ultimately, hospitalists and PCPs should work together to protect patients' best interests.
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