MEAT THE HOSPITALISTS; HOSPITAL-BASED DOCTORS PROVIDE IN-PATIENT CARE FOR THOSE WITHOUT FAMILY DOCTORS

Dr. Teena Shrrock talked with Lottie Carpenter at Carpenter's bedside at Southeast Missouri Hospital. Carpenter entered the hospital after her jaw was broken in two places.

The middle of an appendicitis attack is not the time to remember you don't have a family doctor. But that's exactly what happens for a number of acutely ill emergency room patients at two local hospitals.

Dr. Karen Hendrickson, assistant administrator at Southeast Missouri Hospital, said some 175 patients who are unassigned -- that is, don't have local doctors -- are treated monthly at Southeast Hospital and St. Francis Medical Center. In the past, those patients would see whichever private practice physician was on call when the patient was admitted to the hospital.

However, since November a new joint program has provided unassigned patients at both hospitals with in-house doctors to see to their care from admittance until they are discharged.

The in-house doctors, called hospitalists, work to manage care for hospitalized patients at both hospitals. In addition to monitoring progress, ordering tests and medication, and other duties, they also assist with emergency room patients and make follow-up referrals with private physicians.

"We're on the cutting edge of medicine by bringing this service to the community," Hendrickson said. "A benefit of the service is improved access to care for the patients and relief to the private practice physicians from the unassigned patient call schedule."

Hospitalists help private physicians perform their jobs more thoroughly, Hendrickson said. By tending to inpatients, hospitalists allow private physicians to focus more on their office practices and provide total care for their long-term patients.

The work performed by hospitalists also allow private doctors to have more control over their discretionary time, she said.

"In today's society, people want more time with their families," Hendrickson said. "Physicians in this community have large private practices they need to tend to in the daytime hours and for emergencies of their own families."

Drs. Jesse Ramsey, Scott Weiner and Paul Caruso provide round-the-clock hospitalist care for pediatric patients. Drs. Matthew Shepard, Teena Sharrock and Kevin Dishman are the hospitalists assigned to adult patients.

Weiner, who trained in a similar role at Missouri Baptist Hospital through a St. Louis Children's Hospital program, said he enjoys being a hospitalist because the job constantly changes.

"It's unpredictable: That's the one constant," he said. "It's interesting and it's rewarding in that sort of way."

Weiner said he especially enjoys the challenge of helping a child through an acute illness and then giving up their care to a private physician.

"In the case of pediatrics, you deal with really sick children, and you help them get through their illness and then you deal with another sick child," he said. "We also have lots of newborn babies. It's sort of fun to do the birthday party stuff then turn them over to someone else for the next 18 years."

Weiner said being asked to continue caring for a patient after a hospitalization is "perhaps the greatest compliment" a hospitalist can receive.

While that is not possible, he said he tries to take care in selecting the best private physician to assist each individual patient with follow-up care.

Although Tammy and Todd Beal of Sturdivant have a family doctor, they said they definitely would recommend the hospitalist program and Weiner in particular to others needing medical assistance.

The Beals met Weiner when their newborn son, Phoenix, was hospitalized with respiratory problems.

"Phoenix' doctor was on vacation and luckily we got Dr. Weiner," said Tammy Beal. "When we came in we were heartbroken because of all the pain he was going through, and Dr. Weiner assured us he would be fine and a normal little boy."

Tammy Beal said she liked the hospitalist program because it gives the doctors a chance to follow a patient throughout the hospital stay. "They learn more about the child's condition and they're able to diagnose it better," she said.