Medical Staff

From broom closet to command center: Ensure your office has the right office space

Medical Staff Briefing, May 1, 2010

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Hospital leaders wouldn't think to ask a private practice physician to work in the hallway—an office is non-negotiable. Yet, hospitals frequently ask hospitalists to do just that. Anecdotal evidence suggests that few hospitals have allotted appropriate office space for hospitalist programs. "We've done about 350 consultations, and probably only a dozen of those had adequate offices," says Martin Buser, partner at Hospitalist Management Resources, LLC, a hospitalist consulting firm in Del Mar, CA.

Hospitalist program managers who feel that their programs would benefit from a dedicated office that hospitalists wouldn't jokingly referred to as the broom closet should approach hospital leaders with the promise of greater efficiencies and cost savings. Having a dedicated space equipped with computers and fax machines can save each hospitalist a half hour and to an hour a day that they would otherwise spend running around the hospital cobbling together various resources, says Buser. "Without an adequate office and support personnel, they are trying to get their act together all day long. They are begging and borrowing from other departments."

This is an excerpt from a member only article. To read the article in its entirety, please login or subscribe to Medical Staff Briefing.

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