Surgical Hospitalists: An Idea Whose Time Has Come?

Delay in providing a requested surgical consultation is a significant problem in many emergency departments, particularly those with large volumes. These authors report on the effect of implementing a surgical hospitalist program at the University of California, San Francisco Medical Center.

The surgical service was restructured to have three board-certified general surgeons each taking call on a rotating weekly basis, with 100% of their time dedicated to ED and inpatient consultations. The surgeons were paid a per-diem fee, and, on their off-call weeks, they maintained clinics and scheduled elective surgical procedures. Each attending surgeon rounded on patients with a team composed of a senior resident, a mid-level resident, a nurse practi…