Hospitalists and family physicians: understanding opportunities and risks

Emergence of the hospitalist as a specialist in inpatient medicine provides an opportunity to examine a new provider type and its relation to family physicians.

To review the hospitalist literature to understand the hospitalist role, identify benefits and risks of the hospitalist model to family physicians, and discuss future opportunities to study and work with hospitalists.

An integrative review of published literature about the hospitalist model focused on the influence of hospitalists on family practice.

Three main themes were identified as interest areas for family physicians: descriptions of the hospitalist role and responsibilities; hypothesized benefits and risks of the hospitalist model; and reported research results evaluating the effect of the hospitalist model. Two major opportunities related to hospitalists and family physicians were also uncovered: opportunities to conduct future research to study the influence of hospitalists on family physicians; and opportunities to create workable relationships with these new practitioners.

Despite some opposition to hospitalist programs, the economic climate and increasing productivity standards suggest that these programs are here for the foreseeable future, and it is in family physicians' best interests to understand the opportunities and risks of the hospitalist model. Family physicians can work proactively with this new patient care model by participating in the development of standardized and efficient ways to communicate and to partner with hospitalists. Meanwhile, future research studies can help inform the debate by investigating the specific influence of hospitalist models on family practice.