The otolaryngology hospitalist: a novel practice paradigm

To define a new clinical hospitalist practice paradigm originating at the University of California, San Francisco.

Retrospective administrative database review at a tertiary referral hospital.

A consortium model of an otolaryngologist hospitalist practice was developed. Billing records, including Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) and International Classification of Disease-9 (ICD-9) codes, were reviewed to evaluate the number and type of consultations and surgeries generated during a 2-year period.

A total of 375 new inpatient consultations generated 951 patient encounters. The most common diagnoses were respiratory failure (12%), sinusitis (10.6%), stridor (10.6%), and dysphonia (7.6%). Twenty-six percent of consultations involved a procedure or surgical intervention, the most common of which were endoscopic sinus surgery, laryngoscopy, and tracheotomy.

To our knowledge, ours is the first full-time otolaryngology hospitalist model in the United States. The hospitalist practice is a conceptually viable and clinically beneficial paradigm that should be considered at other similar institutions.