Hospitalist listening to patient

For Primary Care Physicians

Hospitalist listening to patient

To help meet the needs of their patients more effectively, many primary care physicians elect to focus on their office practices and use hospitalist physicians to care for their patients who require hospitalization. Physicians using our service are more available to patients in their office practices and are able to focus their practice and continuing education on the unique challenges of outpatient medicine.

Hospitalists are specialists in inpatient care. By focusing their practice on the care of hospitalized patients, they bring experience and expertise to the dynamic and acute needs of this patient population. Hospitalists spend all of their day in the hospital and are more readily available to patients and families throughout the day. They are also able to manage the complexities of care within the hospital effectively and ensure that patients receive the appropriate care at the appropriate time, as safely as possible.

Frequently Asked Questions about Using Our Hospital Medicine Service

How can I contact the hospitalist caring for my patient?

Outpatient physicians who have access to the Englewood Health Epic EMR may directly contact the hospitalist attending using the Epic secure chat function. For those outside the Englewood EMR system, you can reach the hospitalist by calling the program office at 201-894-3364 during business hours, or by paging the on-call hospitalist via the hospital operator during afterhours.

How will I be kept informed of my patient’s care?

We send an automated notification via fax to the primary care physician’s office at the time of admission and at discharge. A detailed written summary that includes hospital course, discharge medication list, and post-discharge plan of care are also sent via fax shortly after discharge. Outpatient physicians who are on the Englewood Health Epic EMR will receive the notification via an in-basket message instead.

What if my patient needs a subspecialist?

Englewood Health hospitalists have access to all of the outstanding subspecialists on staff and ask for assistance whenever appropriate. Many outpatient physicians and patients have preferred consultants and we will make every effort to maintain these specific relationships if you let us know.

How can I become a referring physician?

We encourage primary care doctors to contact us and let us know if they would like to establish an ongoing relationship in which we provide care to their hospitalized patients. We will then add them to our list of referring physicians so that both the emergency room and medical residents ensure all of their patients are triaged to us. During business hours, physicians can contact Peter Shin, MD, the program director, at 201-894-3364 to discuss the details of developing a long-term relationship with the hospitalist program.

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