TY - JOUR
T1 - Intake Hospitalist
T2 - A New Role to Maximize the Safety and Efficiency of Interhospital Transfers.
AU - Hendricks, Michael Jesse
AU - Wiggins, Alexandra
AU - Halvorson, Stephanie A.C.
AU - Merkel, Matthias Johannes
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 Massachusetts Medical Society.
PY - 2023/10/18
Y1 - 2023/10/18
N2 - Summary The interhospital transfer process is complex and susceptible to logistic errors, inefficiencies, and patient harm. Historically, hospitalists at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) were responsible for managing incoming Medicine transfer requests in addition to concurrent clinical and teaching duties. Transfer patients sometimes arrived unprepared for planned interventions, lacking necessary records, or clinically unstable. Others were transferred without a clear need for a higher level of care. In response, OHSU created the Intake Hospitalist role - a dedicated and specially trained hospitalist without other clinical and educational duties, who manages all direct admissions, intrahospital transfers of service, and interhospital transfer requests to the Medicine service. The goal of the Intake Hospitalist program is to improve the quality and safety of the transfer process and accept the "right patient, at the right time, to the right place."The role was implemented in January 2021 and has led to appreciable improvements in patient safety, standardization, bed utilization, and physician experience. Notably, the authors found the cost of this program has been offset by the indirect financial savings created through backfill of inpatient beds with higher-complexity patients. The Intake Hospitalist has proven so successful that OHSU developed similar roles for the ICUs and Pediatrics during high-demand situations. The authors believe this model could be successful at other large academic centers.
AB - Summary The interhospital transfer process is complex and susceptible to logistic errors, inefficiencies, and patient harm. Historically, hospitalists at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) were responsible for managing incoming Medicine transfer requests in addition to concurrent clinical and teaching duties. Transfer patients sometimes arrived unprepared for planned interventions, lacking necessary records, or clinically unstable. Others were transferred without a clear need for a higher level of care. In response, OHSU created the Intake Hospitalist role - a dedicated and specially trained hospitalist without other clinical and educational duties, who manages all direct admissions, intrahospital transfers of service, and interhospital transfer requests to the Medicine service. The goal of the Intake Hospitalist program is to improve the quality and safety of the transfer process and accept the "right patient, at the right time, to the right place."The role was implemented in January 2021 and has led to appreciable improvements in patient safety, standardization, bed utilization, and physician experience. Notably, the authors found the cost of this program has been offset by the indirect financial savings created through backfill of inpatient beds with higher-complexity patients. The Intake Hospitalist has proven so successful that OHSU developed similar roles for the ICUs and Pediatrics during high-demand situations. The authors believe this model could be successful at other large academic centers.
KW - New Models of Care
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U2 - 10.1056/CAT.23.0198
DO - 10.1056/CAT.23.0198
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85176731367
SN - 2642-0007
VL - 4
JO - NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery
JF - NEJM Catalyst Innovations in Care Delivery
IS - 11
M1 - 0198
ER -