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Plan for conducting interdisciplinary morning rounds

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, September 14, 2009

The hospitalist must remain in continuous contact with the treatment team during a patient’s hospitalization. One way to accomplish this is through the use of interdisciplinary morning rounds that involve appropriate nursing staff, social services, discharge planners, physical/speech/occupation therapists, and pharmacy staff, among others.

It is prudent to hold these rounds early in the morning so that the day can be dedicated to accomplishing the goals set forth in this initial meeting.

Use the following best practices when establishing or conducting interdisciplinary morning rounds led by a hospitalist:

• Preferably, the hospitalist will evaluate the patient twice daily. The afternoon rounds serve to assess the patient’s response to the morning treatment plan and therapy, and to make any necessary adjustments. This contributes to decreased length of stay, improved efficiency, and cost effectiveness. Family conferences may also occur at this time.
• It is important for the hospitalist to converse with any consultant involved in the case to clearly define that practitioner’s role in the patient’s care. The hospitalist will speak with various procedurists or subspecialists (e.g., radiologists, cardiologists, etc.) to discuss the results of the studies performed.
• The hospitalist also may contact the referring physician by voicemail, e-mail, fax, or telephone to provide an update. Such communication between providers is essential to the success of the hospitalist service.
• If the hospitalist is going off service, it is important that he or she write an off-service note to inform the physician who is assuming care and all other hospital personnel involved in the delivery of care to that patient that a transfer of care has occurred.

The above excerpt is adapted from Hospitalist Case Studies: Tactics and Strategies for 10 Common Hurdles by Kenneth G. Simone, DO, published by HCPro, Inc., in Marblehead, MA.

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