While it is doubtful that technology will ever replace a physician, some hospitals are supplementing their staff with a new software technology developed by Mary Jo Gorman, a St. Louis physician. The software, called Advanced ICU Care, can remotely diagnose and monitor patients across the country in an ICU setting. Insurance companies are attempting to [...]
Today’s Hospitalist featured an article that explored the debate as to whether locums hospitalists are causing the overall supply of hospitalists to not meet the rising demand of filling permanent positions –whether these locums physicians pursue locums jobs on a part-time or full-time basis. The use of locums physicians by agencies and hospitalist groups is not [...]
Webster’s Dictionary defines business as a partnership engaged in commerce, or a place of work. While perhaps traditional businesses don’t impact lives as profoundly as a hospital, by definition, a hospital is a business. When someone with a vested interest in the financial well-being of the business looks at financials, they surely will have operating costs, profit and return [...]
The basic advantages of using locum tenens physicians: Retains the regular physician’s existing patients Introduces new patients Maintains patient level Keeps revenue with regular physician Limits burnouts with existing staff Lower liability risk Higher patient satisfaction However, it is vital to understand how to bill for locum tenens physicians to ensure a return on investment for the [...]
According to a recent study published in JAMA Internal Medicine, 36% of Hospitalist report handling an unsafe load of patients more than once a week due to understaffing. This has oftentimes led to poor communication, treatment errors, potentially unnecessary tests, sloppy hand-offs and sometimes complications. Additional studies have uncovered negative effects of understaffing when it [...]
According to a recent survey conducted by Locum Leaders and Today’s Hospitalist, the number of hospital medicine physicians who work as locum tenens is increasing. The results show: 11.6% of the respondents said they worked as locum tenens within the past year 14.5% said they worked full-time as a locum tenens physician The numbers are up from 2011. [...]
The growing shortage of intensivists remains an ongoing concern for hospitals, clinicians, payers and the government. The demand is expected to worsen as inpatient volume and acuity grow in tandem with an aging and increasingly comorbid population. While there is an agreement between the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) and American Board of Emergency Medicine (ABEM) [...]
According to a recent survey by the American Hospital Association, the number of rural hospitals with Hospital Medicine coverage is growing. 1 in 6 hospitals with fewer than 25 beds had Hospitalist programs in 2009, double the penetration of six years before. For hospitals with 25-49 beds, nearly 1 in 3 had a hospitalist presence [...]
The American Medical News recently published an article with a headline reading “Demand for locum tenens physicians has slowed”. The article cited a survey conducted by AMN Healthcare, of their own client facilities and AMN’s internal figures. According to the article, Staff Care, AMN’s temporary physician placement division, actually booked more locum tenens physician days in 2011 than [...]
I remember when the term “Hospitalist” was a new and emerging concept used for those physicians who treated acutely ill patients in the hospital. Fifteen years later, it has grown into a major part of the care a patient receives in nearly every hospital across the country. Over the next decade, Hospital Medicine will have to [...]
