Hospital problems cared for by one family physician

Most family physicians provide regular care in the community hospital setting. The North American literature is quite deficient in documenting this aspect of family practice. The purpose of this paper is to present the content of problems cared for in a small community hospital. The study population consisted of all inpatients care for principally by the author during the first year in practice. The hospital is a 100-bed facility in a representative midwestern community of 15,000. Data analyzed included age, sex, discharge diagnoses, and outcome. Diagnoses were coded and organized according to the ICHPPC code. During the one-year study period, 509 hospital problems were cared for. Primary responsibility for 235 hospitalizations was assumed, for an average of 19.6 patients hospitalized per month. The age/sex profile, when corrected for newborns and obstetric patients, showed peaks in the 75+ age category for both sexes. By major ICHPPC category, circulatory system diseases ranked first and respiratory diseases ranked second. Most frequent specific diagnoses were: (1) newborn care, (2) vaginal delivery, (3) congestive heart failure, (4) diabetes, and (5) chronic lung disease. There were eight deaths of 3.4 percent of the hospitalizations.