What is the goal of Temple’s hospitalist program?
ANSWER: Hospital medicine sometimes has a reputation for wanting to discharge patients very quickly. Our goal is to provide the kind of care you’d want for your patients–highly compassionate, effective, and efficient. We manage acute problems in the hospital and help our patients get to the next site of care, whether that’s home, a subacute facility, or some other arrangement.
What do you mean when you talk about efficient care?
ANSWER: We are very high-touch and goal-directed for our inpatients. So, if a patient comes in with either an acute episode or illness—pneumonia, for example—we may check in on that patient three to four times a day to see whether he or she is improving. We can’t necessarily make a disease process go faster, but we can actively manage patients 24/7 because we’re always present in the hospital.
How are patients’ social factors taken into consideration?
ANSWER: Social factors are considered early and often during patients’ hospital stays. We need to provide care they are comfortable with, that’s in their language, and that takes into consideration who their caregivers are and how they’re interacting with them. How are patients supported socially? Who helps them with their healthcare decisions? And who are their physicians? We then make sure we’re connecting with those people.
How do you address potential substance use disorder?
ANSWER: More than 50% of our physicians can prescribe Suboxone and are trained in various medication-assisted treatments. Our goal is to help patients medically and, for those who are ready, work toward harm reduction and recovery. That may be medication-assisted treatment through a patient’s PCP or a warm handoff to our program or another one.
How can community providers partner with Temple hospitalists to improve the care of their patients?
ANSWER: Community healthcare providers offer great insight into their patients’ medical and social situations. We strive for direct communication with providers whenever possible. When your patients present to Temple, we will contact you to help clarify information about them. If we are unable to reach you, then please use your Epic EMR read-only access to the patient’s chart to obtain a real-time view of your patient.
Stay Connected
Contact us using the Temple page operation at 215-707-4545. Leave your preferred phone number and the best time to reach you. One of our hospitalists will return your call at this time.
