What Is A Hospitalist?

When you are admitted to Middlesex Hospital, you will work with a hospitalist in addition to other doctors, nurses and medical staff. However, many people don’t know what a hospitalist does and how they can help make your Hospital stay better.

A hospitalist can be a doctor of medicine (MD), a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO), or a physician’s assistant (PA) or an advanced nurse practitioner (APRN). A hospitalist engages and specializes in the care of patients, teaching, research and leadership in the field of hospital medicine. A hospitalist does not usually have a medical office outside of a hospital, and most are trained in either internal medicine or family medicine and have additional training in other specialties.

Hospitalists are not unique to Middlesex. Throughout the country, there are 34,000 hospitalists ready to help patients when they need it most. Their primary responsibility: coordinating medical care.

Hospitalists serve as attending physicians for inpatients. They oversee the transition from inpatient to outpatient, and they co-manage patients with surgeons, internal medicine specialists and other clinicians.

At Middlesex Hospital, there are 30 full-time or part-time hospitalists. Because they work as part of an interdisciplinary team, they meet with other team members regularly to discuss patients and their progress. The goal of these meetings is to identify patient needs, including plans for discharge.

When you are discharged, a hospitalist will go over any important instructions with you. Your Hospital case manager, another member of your care team, will coordinate any homecare or short-term rehabilitation needs.

Once you are discharged, a hospitalist’s job is not complete. If necessary, they will call your primary care provider. They will also write a narrative about your Hospital stay, which will be sent to your primary care provider and other physicians.

"The Hospital Medicine Program at Middlesex Hospital applies inpatient medical expertise to provide the safest, highest quality heath care and the best patient experience to our patients and community," says Dr. John Machado, the Hospital’s chief of Hospital Medicine.