Most physicians have hospital privileges.
This means that the physician's qualifications and experience have been approved by a hospital and that he or she has been granted permission to be directly responsible for patients who are admitted to that hospital. If a patient consults a regular physician about a specific complaint the physician may arrange hospitalization and treat the patient personally. Depending on the complexity of the medical illness, the family physician may consult one or more other specialists. The family physician will then follow the patient's progress throughout hospital care and coordinate all aspects of the hospital care, including the planning of care following the patient's hospitalization. The family physician usually goes to the hospital daily to see what progress his or her patients are making.