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IPC The Hospitalist Company Study Finds Relationship Between Continuity of Hospitalist Physician Care and Length of Hospital Stay

Posted on: Thursday, 10 April 2008, 12:01 CDT

Patients with pneumonia and heart failure who receive care from multiple hospital physicians may stay in the hospital longer, according to a study by IPC The Hospitalist Company (Nasdaq: IPCM), a leading physician group practice company.

The study, presented April 5, 2008 at the Society of Hospital Medicine's Annual Meeting in San Diego, California, found that for every 10% increase in fragmentation, pneumonia patients stayed almost a half-day longer in the hospital, and heart failure patients stayed more than one-third day longer. Fragmentation of hospitalist care is defined as the percentage of care given by hospitalists other than the primary hospitalist who saw the patient for the majority of the stay.

"Although there has been increasing discussion about the impact of various staffing models on hospitalist physicians, there has been no research on the effects of hospitalist staffing models on patient-related variables like length of stay," said Kenneth Epstein, M.D., M.B.A., Director of Medical Affairs and Clinical Research at IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. and a faculty member at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. "Our results suggest that if the same hospitalist takes care of a patient for the majority of his or her stay, then the patients' length of stay is demonstrably shorter than if their care is handled by multiple hospitalists."

The study, "The Impact of Fragmentation of Hospitalist Care on Length of Stay and Post-Discharge Issues," included more than 10,000 patients in 223 hospitals across the country with diagnoses of either pneumonia with complications or co-morbidities (DRG 89) or heart failure and shock (DRG 127).

Although the study addressed the impact of fragmentation of care on length of stay, and potentially on other quality indicators, it did not specifically address one particular staffing model. IPC The Hospitalist Company, for example, has multiple practices with many different types of schedules and strives for continuity of care by working with all of its practices to reduce fragmentation. According to Dr. Epstein, different staffing models can impact the quality of care that hospitalists provide, but the goal should always be to maximize the continuity of care that is provided by hospitalists and minimize fragmentation.

"IPC, as a large company, has multiple practices with a variety of schedules," added Dr. Epstein. "We therefore perform this sort of research to study the impact of the various models of our practices, as well as hospitalist practices industry wide."

Dr. Epstein co-authored the study with Esther Juarez, Kathy Loya, and Adam Singer, M.D., of IPC and Anne Epstein, PhD, assistant professor, Division of Health Care Policy and Research, at the University of Colorado School of Medicine.

About IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc.

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc. (Nasdaq: IPCM) is a leading physician group practice company focused on the delivery of hospitalist medicine services. IPC's physicians and affiliated providers manage the care of hospitalized patients in coordination with primary care physicians and specialists. The Company provides its hospitalists with the comprehensive training, information technology, and management support systems necessary to improve the quality and reduce the cost of inpatient care in the facilities it serves. For more information, visit the IPC website at www.hospitalist.com.

Source: Business Wire

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