The Greene County Medical Center will begin a new hospitalist program next month.

Community Relations Director Carla Offenburger says hospitalists are physicians who manage a patient’s care while in the hospital.  It’s a practice that began in larger medical facilities and is now being used in smaller areas to provide more focused, patient-centered care.

These physicians will work with patients and their families on a daily basis to provide responsive and coordinated care, collaborate with nursing staff, specific care teams and the patient’s primary provider, before, during and after hospital care.

She states that in the new system, emergency room physicians will be credentialed to do both ER and hospitalist duties.  It will allow for seamless care for those patients in the ER to receive admittance to the medical center or be transferred to another facility.

Offenburger notes that hospitalists will be working with all patients during their hospital stay which will help to improve coordinated care and communication with the patient and their family on a regular basis.

The medical center anticipates that even with ER duties – where the medical center sees approximately ten patient visits in a 24-hour period – patients and their families should notice an immediate difference in access to provider care during their hospital stays.

The hospital is partnering with Acute Care Incorporated for the new hospitalist program that is slated to start on Tuesday, September 2nd.