Hospitalists have been linked to shorter patient stays and healthcare spending, but a recent study has found their care may result in more readmissions — offsetting any original savings, according to a Reuters report.
Published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, this is one of the first studies to follow hospitalist patients after they are discharged. Approximately 58,000 patients were studied, and more than a third were cared for by a hospitalist.
Those who were cared for by a primary care physician spent half a day more at the hospital, costing Medicare $282 more on average. However, in the month following their discharge, patients who had been seen by hospitalists incurred an average extra expense of $332.
The latter cost was due to readmissions, with another portion from patients being sent to nursing homes rather than back home. Study authors broadened this statistic, estimating that hospitalist care could result in $1.1 billion annually in additional spending.
Read the Reuters report on hospitalists.
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