What is a hospitalist?
When you have heart troubles you see a cardiologist. When you have a baby you see an obstetrician. And when you are in the hospital you see a hospitalist.
“A hospitalist is a doctor who specializes in taking care of hospitalized patients in partnership with the individual’s family doctor,” said Tracy Reittinger, MD, St. Luke’s Hospitalist’s medical director. “Our hospitalist team works round-the-clock. Our main goal is to provide the right care at the right time for each patient. We want to help patients recover and return home as soon as possible.”
St. Luke’s was the first hospital in Cedar Rapids to use hospitalists. There is also a pediatric hospitalist program caring
for hospitalized children.
Caring for complex illnesses
The hospitalized patient population has a greater degree of illness than they have had in the past,” said Dr. Reittinger. “Hospitalists have expertise in caring for very complex patients. A hospitalist has specialized training to deal with these more difficult cases and are able to diagnose, treat and identify potential problems.”
Hospitalists also arrange any specialty care the patient may need and work together with those specialists to provide coordinated, evidenced-based, compassionate care. Delays in patient care are minimized because the hospitalist has flexibility during the day or night to respond to the needs of the patient, family or nurses.
“St. Luke’s adult and pediatric hospitalists are in contact with each patient’s family doctor,” said Dr. Reittinger. “A hospitalist coordinates hospital care, including ordering diagnostic tests and establishing a treatment plan.”
Constant communication
When the patient is released from St. Luke’s, the patient’s family doctor gets all of the medical records from the hospital stay and the patient returns to their care. The hospitalist team arranges for close follow-up once the patient is discharged to ensure the ongoing treatment plan continues, even after the patient leaves the hospital. The hospitalist team also calls the patient at home to ensure the patient understands any new medications they may have been prescribed, talks about any follow-up appointments they may have and makes sure the patient continues to improve.
“We want to alleviate any fears the family may have,” said Dr. Reittinger. “We communicate with the patient and their family so they always know what is happening with their care. We treat each patient as we would a family member – it’s our goal and it’s the mission of St. Luke’s Hospital.”
To learn more about the hospitalist program at St. Luke’s call 319/368-5970 or visit our Hospitalist page.
