Have you ever heard of a "hospitalist?"

I visit Ellee Seymour's blog on occasion; she's been kind enough to return the favor (or, since she's English, I suppose I should say 'favour') from time to time. Ms. Seymour blogs on English politics and apparently enjoys a considerable following.

Earlier this week Ms. Seymour had a post entitled "Introducing the Hospitalist." Per her post, this is "an American concept." An excerpt:

A hospitalist is a medic who cares for all the patient’s needs from the moment he enters hospital, until the moment he leaves. He is also a point of contact when the patient returns home and wants to call and check on medication or has any immediate concerns. Patients and their families often find it hard to take in important medical information and its full implication while in hospital, and it is reassuring for them to know there is one person who is aware of the full facts and, most importantly, is accessible.

As I understand it, the hospitalist is basically a case manager who will liaise with patients and hospital staff to ensure their needs and will follow through all the needs regarding his treatment. They will ensure there is no confusion or misunderstanding surrounding complications, such as when a patient has more than one medical problem and is seeing more than one consultant.

I've never heard of any such thing.

Of course, I'm a middle-aged Dad and, therefore, by definition, clueless on most things, especially if they are in any way trendy. Also, with the significant exception of having most of my colon removed three years ago (how time flies!) I have managed to avoid hospitalizations recently and may, therefore, have a reasonable excuse for not knowing about it.

So, I open up the discussion to the group: Have you ever heard of a "hospitalist?" Have you any experience of this specialty... whether good, bad or indifferent? If you have some information on the topic, leave a comment, please (and, lurkers, please consider yourselves specifically invited to leave a comment as well).

Thank you.
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And, if anyone is interested in my own hospitalization story, here are the posts, in chronological order. I thought these were pretty amusing when I wrote them... although, of course, I was heavily drugged up at the time....

• I'm ba-ack... sort of (March 5, 2007)
• The lawyer tax (March 7, 2007)
• Epidural (March 7, 2007)
• SICC -- the case of the bad neighbor (March 8, 2007)
• Nurses -- or -- There goes another fantasy (March 9, 2007)