FP Report -- March 1999
FP: 'I'm a pro with hospitalists'
BurkeFamily physician Theresa Burke, M.D., of Gainesville, Fla., has used hospitalists for 10 years -- internist John Nelson, M.D., (see story) and his partners.
Burke has a full-time family practice but works only about 40 hours a week, in contrast to FPs' national average of 53.2 hours.
How does she do it? "John's a big help!" she said.
For most adult patients needing hospitalization, Burke contacts the hospitalist on call to admit the patient and manage the case. She gets discharge summaries and does follow-up.
There are exceptions. "Some of my patients have psychosocial problems and are attached to me," said Burke. "If they want me to handle their care, I do."
For example, a college student had suffered a gang rape several years earlier, was still in therapy and had a kidney or pelvic disease requiring hospitalization. "She still relayed fears about men, and the hospitalists were all men, so I handled her care," said Burke.
She also pays social calls on older patients who are nervous about being hospitalized. She doesn't bill for those calls. "I'm willing to put in the extra effort for my patients who need my support," she said.
She's not alone in that. In many hospitalist systems, primary care physicians pay social calls.
Burke opted for hospitalists in order to have more time at home with her husband and two children, now 11 and 16. "Ask children of an older doctor Ñ almost always a man Ñ if they saw their dad much," said Burke. "The children were raised by the mom; the dad wasn't around much. Doctors just gave up their families and their lives for their patients."
That's not her style. "I don't want to be the missing doctor-parent," she said. "I'm a pro with hospitalists."
FP Report is published by the AAFP News Department. Copyright © 1999 by American Academy of Family Physicians.
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