Program will Help to Manage Inpatient Care Improve Outcomes and Enhance Hospital Efficiency

Glenwood Regional Medical Center announced today that it will launch a new hospitalist program starting January 29, 2009. Our new hospitalists are:

• Dr. Mark Boersma – Internal Medicine
• Dr. Stephen Horne – Family Practice
• Dr. Billy Alexander – Family Practice
• Dr. Cindy Dollar – Family Practice
• Dr. Shaun McIntire – Internal Medicine

The hospitalist program was created to help improve patient outcomes, minimize the amount of time a patient must stay in the hospital, increase the level communication about the patient’s care for the patient and their family, and to better educate patients and families on health issues. A hospitalist works in tandem with the patient’s primary care physician, coordinating most aspects of their inpatient care while staying in constant contact with the patient’s primary doctor.

“Creating the hospitalist program represents a clear commitment on our part to further enhance the quality and efficiency of care for our hospitalized patients,” said Ron Elder, CEO of Glenwood Regional Medical Center “We are so pleased to be able to offer our physicians and patients an opportunity to work with such highly trained inpatient care specialists.”

Recent studies have shown that the use of hospitalists have significant impact on the amount of time patients spend in the hospital, and on the cost of their care. Researchers Robert M. Wachter, M.D. and Lee Goldman, M.D. conducted a study in 2002 on the impact of hospitalists and patient care. Their findings, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that the average length of stay for patients decreased by 16.5 percent when being cared for by hospitalists. The study also found that hospital costs for those patients were reduced by 13.4 percent.