Acute Hospitalist Medicine and the Rapid Response System

Abstract

Traditionally, the Primary Care Physician (PCP), usually an internist or family practice physician, has been responsible for outpatient and inpatient care. There have been many forces in healthcare that have pushed toward a separation of care provided to patients in both of these locations. Changes in hospital management systems, hospital size, increasing severity of patient illness, and out-of-control healthcare costs have all been integral in the push towards an inpatient physician-driven care model.1 Within the context of these changes, there has been a growing sense of PCP dissatisfaction in the ability to provide timely and efficient care to both their outpatient and inpatient populations. This has ultimately given birth to the hospital medicine “specialist.” This emerging specialty is defined, much like Critical Care and Emergency Medicine, by the site of care rather than a disease, patient population, or organ-system.