The Patient’s Perspective
Is the Hospitalist Model a Viable Option for Obstetric Care?
Archana Pradhan, MD, MPH
UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, New Brunswick, NJ
Archana Raman, Chung Lim, Elizabeth Yoon, and Cande Ananth, PhD, MPH
OBJECTIVE: The hospitalist model is a way of delivering health care in which a cadre of physicians function within a hospital to deliver medical care to hospitalized patients, but
not in the outpatient practice setting. This model has been 40S MONDAY POSTERS OBSTETRICS & GYNECOLOGY long been touted as a cost-saving measure for both hospitals
and physicians alike. We assessed whether obstetric patients are likely to seek care in a practice that delivers prenatal care, but not intrapartum care.
METHODS: All patients who delivered at Robert Wood Johnson University Medical Group’s Division of General Obstetrics and Gynecology between 2002 and 2004 were
administered a telephone survey. Three attempts were made to reach each patient. Interviewers explained the purpose of the study and obtained verbal consent (60% response rate).
Of a total of 1,039 patients, 381 were reached, 56 refused, 399 had disconnected, 203 were unreachable.
RESULTS: Approximately 86% of respondents indicated their intent to return to the practice for prenatal care or delivery of their newborn. Ninety percent noted their intent
to return if they knew their babies would be delivered by specific doctors. In contrast, only 32% of respondents provided an intent to deliver their next child with this
practice if they knew that a hospitalist was going to deliver their baby.
CONCLUSION: Patient preferences ought to dictate how health care service is delivered. Previous studies on the hospitalist model have largely overlooked the issue of
patient satisfaction. The results of this study underscore the fact that pregnant patients would not be content with the hospitalist model.
Obstetrics & Gynecology (2008) 11(4 Supplement): 40S-41S
POSTER presented at ACOG 56th Annual Clinical Meeting May 3-7.2008 New Orleans, LA