He offers the example of a hospital patient who must wait for test results before being released. If the doctor cannot get back to the hospital that day, the patient spends another night. However, both expect to realize some cost savings, according to officials. Like Wilson, Farrell takes referred and unreferred patients, and six family practice physicians at Hattiesburg Clinic refer all their patients to him. Physicians often make courtesy rounds to the hospital to check on their patients, but Farrell is responsible for all inpatient care.
Computerized records keep the patients' regular physicians up to date on their progress.
But while physicians like the convenience of the hospitalist programs, some prefer to continue being in charge of their patients' inpatient care. For them, the benefit of a hospitalist comes from not being called away for an emergency or having to get up in the middle of the night to admit a patient. Even so, Forrest General is recruiting more hospitalists to provide staffing around the clock and has already gotten a commitment from one person to start this summer. NMHS is also looking for more hospitalists. And at least one other Mississippi hospital, Memorial Hospital at Gulfport, is considering a hospitalist program.