Inpatient Physician Services

Memorial’s Hospitalist Program

In the same way a cardiologist specializes in the care of heart patients, a hospitalist is a medical physician who specializes in the care of hospitalized patients. Since hospitalists do not maintain an office practice, they focus exclusively on patients in the hospital setting and are highly skilled in caring for the critically ill. Hospitals have become more complex in recent years, and a hospitalist my be more familiar with hospital routines. 

If you need to be hospitalized, your physician or specialist may refer your inpatient care to Memorial’s Inpatient Physician team. If you are admitted through the emergency department, your physician will be notified. Once you are admitted, the hospitalist team will be in charge of your care and see you daily. Throughout your stay, your hospitalist works together with your physician to ensure you obtain the best care possible. 

The Inpatient Physician Services program allows your doctor to concentrate on the needs of patients in the office—secure in the knowledge that a qualified physician is caring for you while you are in the hospital. This does not mean, however, there is an interruption of communication between you and your doctor. One of the hospitalist’s responsibilities is to ensure continuity of care by keeping your doctor informed of your condition.

Nothing can replace your relationship with your regular doctor, especially if that relationship has been going on for a long time. Since a hospitalist is in the hospital all day, your doctor can be with you and your family in the office during your visits.

For more information on our Hospitalist program, please call (228) 867-4000.