The Hospitalist: Your Care Team’s Quarterback
- UPMC Passavant
- 5 days ago
- 5 min read
When you’re in the hospital, it can be hard to keep track of all your doctors, tests, and procedures. At UPMC Passavant, you can count on your hospitalist to make your stay more manageable. They coordinate your care, collaborate with specialists, and keep you informed every step of the way.
This summer, Angela, a Cranberry Township resident, spent 13 days at UPMC Passavant in McCandless. She saw a countless stream of doctors, specialists, nurses, phlebotomists, and other care team members. But she always felt informed and “in the loop,” thanks to her hospitalist, Justin Beckett, MD.
“There were no surprises for me,” says Angela, 70. “Dr. Beckett became my main doctor while I was in the hospital. He knew me and my medical history. I felt extremely comfortable in his care.”
A Specialty Worth Knowing
Although the specialty has been around for almost 30 years, most people don’t know what a hospitalist does.
A hospitalist can be a doctor or an advanced practice provider (APP). They specialize in the care of admitted hospital patients while they’re in the hospital. At UPMC Passavant, hospitalists are available 24/7. They diagnose conditions, coordinate treatment plans, and collaborate with all members of the patient’s clinical team.
UPMC Passavant’s team of hospitalists includes a core team of six doctors who are board-certified in internal medicine or family medicine. The APP team includes certified nurse practitioners and physician assistants. “We provide a continuum of medical care,” says Dr. Beckett, UPMC Passavant’s new medical director of hospital medicine and lead hospitalist. “We handle patient care from admission to discharge. We also provide the patient’s outpatient primary care physician (PCP) with a detailed summary of the care they received here.”
Patient-Focused Care
Angela’s condition was complicated. Multiple tests and specialists were needed to properly diagnose and treat her. She was sent to UPMC Passavant by her cardiologist, who was alarmed by bloodwork indicating her muscles were breaking down.
“I’d been experiencing pain and weakness in my legs,” explains Angela. “Five years ago, I had debilitating Guillain-Barré syndrome symptoms. I was desperate to know if it was returning.”
Angela hadn’t heard of a hospitalist before her stay, but she liked Dr. Beckett’s approach. “Dr. Beckett didn’t want to just treat my symptoms, he wanted to find the underlying cause,” she says. “He coordinated all the specialists and testing. And when the results came in, he reviewed them with me, answered all my questions, and explained what was needed.”
According to Dr. Beckett, the hospitalist plays the role of a generalist. “We are first and foremost good clinicians. We review data from patient histories, lab work, radiology, and other sources. We use that information to form a plan of care and determine if specialty care or additional testing is needed,” he says.
Because they focus only on hospitalized patients, hospitalists also help ensure patient safety. “Hospitalized patients are particularly vulnerable,” says Dr. Beckett. “Not only are they ill, they also have to interact with so many team members and make sense of large volumes of information, often without any sense of control. Research shows us that these conditions inherently put patients at risk for things to go wrong. Hospitalists help to filter through the information, reconcile opinions across specialists, advocate for their patients' needs, and ensure safe delivery of care.”
“A hospital stay can be overwhelming,” he adds. When a hospitalist leads the care team, there are real benefits for patients and family members. “We’re readily available to answer questions, share test results, and set patients up for successful transitions home,” explains Dr. Beckett.
“We’re like the quarterback of our patient’s care. Health care is difficult to navigate. We help patients understand the problems they’re facing and move through the system, all while maintaining the humanity of it all.”
Key Communicators
For hospitalists, communication is key. This means making sure caregivers both in and out of the hospital are on the same page — including a patient’s primary care doctor. Hospitalists communicate with nurses, specialists, pharmacists, case managers — and, most importantly, the patient and their loved ones.
Angela and her husband had access to the daily notes Dr. Beckett entered into her electronic medical records. “We could go online to see my test results and his notes. And if we had questions, we could bring them up with Dr. Beckett,” she says.
While at UPMC Passavant, Angela was seen by a neurologist, hematologist, and rheumatologist. A general surgeon also biopsied her leg. She was eventually diagnosed with statin-induced myositis. It’s a rare but serious side effect of a statin medicine she took to treat high cholesterol. It occurs when the body develops antibodies that mistakenly attack healthy muscle tissue. She was discharged from UPMC Passavant after undergoing a course of intravenous immunoglobulin to neutralize the antibodies.
“Knowing Dr. Beckett was on top of things and that I would see him whenever I needed him was very reassuring,” says Angela. “I think it would have been overwhelming without him. Having a hospitalist means you always have someone in your corner.”
A PCP’s Point of View
Aditya Bhatnagar, MD, understands the challenges patients can experience when navigating a hospital stay.
During his family medicine residency, Dr. Bhatnagar spent a year functioning as a hospitalist at UPMC Altoona, covering both night shifts and day shifts. He is now a primary care physician (PCP) with a practice in Cranberry Township. Many of his patients are treated at UPMC Passavant.
“Hospitalists play a vital role in patient care. They take over the duties of a PCP when a patient is in the hospital,” says Dr. Bhatnagar.
“I tell my patients the hospitalist is someone they can trust. They’re always at the hospital to check in and answer questions,” he adds. “They’re like a quarterback. They’re in charge of recognizing the problems, calling the plays, and navigating the system to get you home as safely and quickly as possible.”
Electronic sharing of medical records makes it easier and faster for hospitalists to access patient records. That’s key to communicating with doctors inside and outside the hospital. Hospitalists keep track of all medicines — including current and new prescriptions — plus tests and lab results, and make sure chronic conditions are still being addressed.
“A patient may come in for a heart attack. But their chronic conditions don’t disappear,” says Dr. Bhatnagar. “The hospitalist isn’t just managing the heart attack. They’re also managing the patient’s diabetes, blood pressure, cholesterol, and potassium.”
Dr. Bhatnagar knows good communication by the hospitalist ensures patients receive the care they need while in the hospital. It also ensures discharged patients get the care they need as outpatients. That’s why a detailed discharge summary from the hospitalist is essential.
“For many patients, a hospital stay can be confusing and overwhelming. Patients don’t really remember what tests were done, what medicine was prescribed, or what follow-up was recommended,” says Dr. Bhatnagar. “That’s key information for their primary care doctor when discharged.”
A complete discharge summary includes:
A recap of the patient’s hospital stay
Important lab results
Imaging abnormalities
Medicine changes
Assessments, consults, and follow-up recommendations
“Hospitalists help ensure a seamless transition to outpatient care,” says Dr. Bhatnagar. “That teamwork is important, so when our patients leave the hospital and we resume their care, we know exactly what needs to be done.”
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