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Who are surgical hospitalists?

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, January 12, 2010

Surgical hospitalists include the following demographic groups:

• Younger surgeons interested in a balanced lifestyle
• Senior surgeons whose children have graduated from high school and college
• Fellowship-trained surgeons interested in a more rewarding career
• Retiring military surgeons

Early anecdotal experience indicates that there are two groups of surgeons who are most interested in surgical hospitalist careers. The first is the younger surgeon who desires a more balanced lifestyle that comes with a fixed schedule offered by some surgical hospitalist practices. The second is the senior surgeon who is later in his or her career, has children who have graduated from high school or college, and may be seeking relief from the burden of managing a private practice. Both groups have indicated interest in professional opportunities that are stimulating and well compensated.

Senior surgeons typically have previous experience in a broad-based general surgical practice that involved coverage of their hospital’s ED and their private practice. The opportunity to apply their problem-solving skills as a surgical hospitalist in the evaluation of undifferentiated patients in the ED and in consult requests is a welcome change of pace compared to the routine of an outpatient clinic.

Some senior fellowship-trained surgeons have chosen to switch to a surgical hospitalist career because it offers a more controlled work schedule and interesting work. The private practice business and office staffing requirements can place an undue burden on the fellowship-trained surgeon as a result of declining reimbursements. Becoming a surgical hospitalist has offered financial relief for some of these surgeons.

In addition, military general surgeons are often attracted to surgical hospitalist practice as they approach their 20th year of military service and are about to retire with a full military pension. Trauma surgeons have identified the surgical hospitalist pathway as an alternative to add additional operative opportunities and to use their trauma skills in a Level 2 trauma center.

The above excerpt is adapted from The Surgical Hospitalist Program Management Guide: Tools and Strategies for Executives and Physicians, by John Nelson, MD, FACP, FHM, and John Maa, MD, FACS, foreword by Robert M. Wachter, MD, published by HCPro, Inc., Marblehead, MA.

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