Hospitalists at an academic medical center, part 1: impact of a voluntary pilot hospitalist program.

The use of hospitalists-physicians who limit their practice largely or exclusively to hospital inpatient care-has been a growing trend in the United States. The authors examine some pressures affecting an academic medical center and present the results of a hospitalist pilot project there. Based on the criteria of reduced patient length of hospital stay, hospital financial savings, physician satisfaction, and payer interest, the pilot hospitalist program was successful within 6 months.