SAN ANTONIO -- Hospitalists are internal medicine doctors who specialize in treating sick people in the hospital. Now, one of San Antonio’s largest medical groups is using hospitalists to provide better care for its patients.
Dr. Darius Buzenas is a hospitalist. He manages the acute care for patients like 81-year-old Jose Hinojosa of San Antonio, a WellMed patient. Buzenas is one of 13 physicians employed as hospitalists by WellMed.
The medical group says hiring its own inpatient caregivers means issues don’t slip through the cracks when patients go home.
“They are sicker than patients that are obviously in the clinic and being treated as an outpatient,” explained Buzenas. “It’s more medically challenging which I enjoy.”
While Buzenas sees WellMed patients at Baptist Medical Center, the primary care physicians stay in their offices and see patients.
WellMed president Dr. Carlos Hernandez said hospitalists provide a bridge, a better coordination of care. “The hospitalist is able to focus and is usually on site to care for that patient through that whole episode of care in the hospital,” Hernandez said. “So they’re basically in the building being able to care for that patient.”
Since WellMed started with hospitalists several years ago, the group has noticed fewer hospital re-admissions, shorter hospital stays and better patient compliance with testing and medication directives.
Buzenas spends much of his time explaining things to family members. And he’s also careful to make sure patients get their questions answered before they leave.
Hospital medicine is one of the fastest growing medical specialists, with about 30-thousand hospitalists working in the U.S.
“As we move forward, I think we’re going to see more hospitalist care and less primary care doctors in the hospital,” Hernandez commented.
Right now, WellMed uses hospitalists in 12 facilities around San Antonio in the medical center, downtown and on the northeast side of town. The group expects to expand its program into more facilities soon.
