Hospitalists Offer Best Guess at Patient Costs

August 10, 2010 by hospitalistblog Leave a Comment

It’s often difficult for patients to know how much they’ll pay for procedures, tests and services in a hospital, but the same seems true for their doctors.  In a recent study in the Journal of Hospital Medicine, hospitalists fared poorly in a survey assessing their knowledge of patient costs.

As reported by Karen Cheung for HealthLeaders Media, researchers “asked hospitalists how much a hypothetical unadjusted self-paying patient would be billed for commonly used services, procedures, tests, and physician charges. Out of the 26 completed hospitalist surveys, researchers found that only a tenth of them were within a 10% accuracy rate.”

For example, when asked to price an overnight stay in an ICU bed, hospitalists guessed anywhere from $750 to $6,000. Researchers put the true cost for a night in the ICU at the hospitals in their study at $1,107.

“Their guesses were not very close, in general, to the so-called ‘true price’,” says Jeremy D. Graham, MA, DO, internal medicine residency Spokane faculty, clinical assistant professor of medicine at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and lead author of the study.

Physicians are not generally trained on price awareness and the authors point out that true patient costs are challenging to ascertain because of cost adjustments between hospitals and insurers.

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Hospitalist Salaries Continue to Climb

July 14, 2010 by hospitalistblog Leave a Comment

Hospitalist Salary ChartNew survey data from the Society of Hospital Medicine (SHM) and the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) show that hospitalist salaries continue to climb.  The mean annual salary for a hospitalist, according to the report, is now $225,344.  The figure is inclusive of base pay plus benefits and incentive compensation, such as quality bonuses.

Writing about the data in the July issue of The Hospitalist, John Nelson, MD, cites several factors for the continued climb in compensation.  Increased productivity and inflation, says Nelson, are two factors.  But “the principal reason for the rising trend in our pay is ‘market forces,’ primarily demand for hospitalists that has exceeded the supply.”

The survey excludes pediatric hospitalists.  Academic hospitalists, who had been represented in previous SHM salary surveys, were also left out of the 2010 SHM-MGMA survey, according to Nelson.  SHM plans a separate survey on academic hospitalist compensation.

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Hospitalist Care Gains Support From OB-GYNs

June 22, 2010 by hospitalistblog Leave a Comment

The increasing role of hospitalists in delivering OB-GYN care is being acknowledged by the nation’s leading group of physicians for women.  In a new advisory opinion from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG), the group says “the rising number of ob-gyn hospitalists in the US holds promise for benefiting both patients and physicians while also maintaining safe and effective care.”

Writing for ACOG in the July issue of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Dr. Patrice Weiss notes two types of hospital-based practitioners for women.  ”Laborists” generally care for women in labor and manage obstetric emergencies, while a general ob-gyn hospitalist may provide in-house gynecologic services, perform inpatient consultations, and see emergency room patients.

One benefit of hospitalist care for patients, according to ACOG, is having an immediately available, well-rested physician which can enhance patient safety and improve outcomes.

ACOG also sees benefits for OB-GYNs who choose hospital-based employment.  Ob-gyn hospitalists, and laborists, who practice solely in the hospital setting, stand to benefit from more predictable schedules, assistance with medical liability insurance premiums, avoidance of work-related fatigue, and freedom from day-to-day practice worries such as overhead costs, billing, and collections.

“The most important thing when these programs are implemented is to establish and maintain clear, ongoing communication between physicians in practice and hospitalists,” said Dr. Weiss. “It’s vital that the hospitalist and the primary care provider consult with each other regarding the handoff of patients, progress updates, and follow-up care so patient injury is avoided.”

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Hospitalist Growth Highlighted in NYT

June 4, 2010 by hospitalistblog Leave a Comment

The New York Times Jane Gross puts the spotlight on Hospital Medicine with her recent article:  “New Breed of Specialists Signs in for Family Doctor. “

With patients still largely confused or even ignorant of the role of Hospitalists, Gross’ article explains, in lay terms, how hospitalists fit into new models of health care delivery:

“Because hospitalists are on top of everything that happens to a patient — from entry through treatment and discharge — they are largely credited with reducing the length of hospital stays by anywhere from 17 to 30 percent, and reducing costs by 13 to 20 percent, according to studies in The Journal of the American Medical Association. As their numbers have grown, from 800 in the 1990s to 30,000 today, medical experts have come to see hospitalists as potential leaders in the transition to the Obama administration’s health care reforms, to be phased in by 2014.

Under the new legislation, hospitals will be penalized for readmissions, medical errors and inefficient operating systems. Avoidable readmissions are the costliest mistakes for the government and the taxpayer, and they now occur for one in five patients, gobbling $17.4 billion of Medicare’s current $102.6 billion budget.”

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Locum Tenens Tips for Hospitalists

May 24, 2010 by hospitalistblog Leave a Comment

A new article this month in Locum Life magazine offers good advice for first-time or long-time locum tenens physicians who feel the tug of family responsibilities when they travel.  One great idea from the article is to hold a family meeting before your assignment to discuss why your career involves trips away from home. 

Locum Leaders CMO Bob Harrington, MD adds, “it’s best to let your family know where you’re working, your contact information, hours that you’re working, and good and bad times to get in touch with you.” And take particular care to explain to younger children why you need to leave home. “I think it needs to be portrayed in a positive light,”  he advises.

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