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PEDIATRICS Vol. 113 No. 3 March 2004, pp. 623

Pediatric Hospitalists

Joseph J. Wells, MD, FAAP
Scottsdale, AZ 85259
Maryvale Pediatric Clinic

To the Editor.—

In the March 2003 issue of Pediatrics, Percelay1 summarizes the responsibilities of those caring for hospitalized children. Although he mentions hospitalists as part of this group, the report is directed mainly at the primary care physician. Indeed, it seems to be the hospitalist who is increasingly taking over the care of hospitalized children as pediatricians become more office based.

One hundred fifteen general pediatricians in 28 solo and group practices were surveyed to determine their use of pediatric hospitalists in Phoenix, Arizona. A phone survey of either the doctor or office manager determined whether that doctor’s practice utilized 1 of the 3 available hospitalist services at Phoenix Children’s Hospital, the only free-standing children’s hospital in Arizona. Use of the hospitalist included admission of the patient and coordination of care until discharge. Of the pediatricians surveyed, 61 (54%) use hospitalists for all their inpatients. Reasons given included ability to spend more time in the office, reduction in travel time, hassles encountered when trying to admit patients (especially during the peak respiratory season), decrease in hospital experience over time, and decrease in reimbursement for hospital care. The past decade has seen a number of changes in pediatric primary care. With the advent of specialized and ancillary services, many general pediatricians no longer care for extremely ill/premature neonates, attend their patients in emergency departments, or return their own phone calls to patients after hours. Now the trend is also to relinquish care of hospitalized children to specialists. As the role of the pediatrician moves from the traditional one of providing total care from the cradle to college to one of exclusive office practice, it will be interesting to see how this will effect the pediatrician-patient-parent relationship.

REFERENCE

  1. Percelay JM; Committee on Hospital Care. Physicians’ roles in coordinating care of hospitalized children. Pediatrics.2003; 111 :707 –709[Abstract/Free Full Text]
PEDIATRICS (ISSN 1098-4275). ©2004 by the American Academy of Pediatrics



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[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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