July 12, 2021
Hospitalists are doctors who practice within hospitals, providing care from the time of admission until discharge for patients who either do not have a primary care physician or whose doctors don’t practice at the hospital.
The College of Community Health Sciences started a hospitalist program back in 2003 with just two hospitalists. Today, we have nearly 15 hospitalist physicians who practice at DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa, a tertiary-care facility with more than 580 beds and an advanced trauma unit. Our hospitalists provided 54,693 patient care visits for patients hospitalized at DCH in 2020.
In June, Capstone Health Services Foundation, which is affiliated with CCHS, was selected by DCH Health System to provide hospitalists to both DCH Regional Medical Center in Tuscaloosa and Northport Medical Center. CCHS also operates University Medical Center.
In addition to DCH, we are also partnering in this endeavor with the Atlanta-based IN Compass Health, a physician staffing and management company. company. We will employ the physicians who will work within the hospitalist program, and IN Compass will provide operational oversight and expertise and be responsible for the day-to-day operations and quality care and metrics of the hospitalist program.
Hospitalist medicine has quickly become one of the largest medical specialties in the U.S. That growth has been fueled by several trends, the primary one being that the demands on office-based physicians’ time have significantly increased. Many find it difficult to split their time throughout the day with the office and hospitalized patients and have less time to travel to facilities where their patients are hospitalized.
Hospitalists, who typically complete residency training in internal medicine or family medicine, help hospitals provide quality patient care and excellent patient satisfaction, which greatly improves the overall patient experience.
And there are important advantages for patients. Hospitalists are at the hospital, so they can immediately answer questions of hospitalized patients, meet with families and follow up on tests. Research also suggests greater satisfaction among hospitalized patients who are cared for by hospitalists.
We are pleased to be able to expand our relationship with DCH and to partner with IN Compass. Together, we will elevate hospital care for the citizens of West Alabama.
The College of Community Health Sciences operates University Medical Center
