Hospitalists are doctors who direct their entire attention and skills to hospitalized patients. At Kona Community Hospital, our team of hospitalists, who are board certified internists, care for patients 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Your primary care doctor may partner with our hospitalists to care for your medical needs while you are an inpatient.
The Hospitalist Program consists of physicians who provide high quality care for patients during the hospital stay, as well as medical consultation for other physicians. By not having an office practice and by being available in the hospital, hospitalists are able to respond to patients’ needs in a timely manner. The hospitalists not only focus on patient care but maintain good communication between patients, nurses, case managers, pharmacists, families and referring physicians.
The benefits of having the hospitalist physicians caring for the patient while in the hospital include:
- Ensuring patient safety during hospitalization
- Timely medical expertise
- Fast response when there is a need for labs and tests and when an emergency situation arises
- Easy access to a physician for patients and families during daytime hours
- Patient and family-focused communication
- Enhanced patient understanding of their care
- More efficient and timely inpatient care
- Coordinated patient care plan with the primary care physician and other specialists
Mission of the Hospitalist Program:
- To promote a “patient safe” clinical environment
- To promote high quality, efficient, comprehensive, compassionate inpatient care
- To redefine and improve the standard of inpatient care including seamless communication across multiple settings
- To excel as educators in conveying the principles of evidence-based inpatient medicine to staff, colleagues, and patients
- To become leaders in hospitalist medicine and agents of change in quality improvement initiatives, patient safety, and clinical education