Hospitalist number of patients/day?

[jm192]

I took a job a few hours from home rounding on 15-20 a day with 3-5 admits a day. I start next month.

Through some connections, got an interview at a large hospital closer to home.

They said 15 was extremely light, 20 feels like a vacation. Close to 30 is a normal day, and then on the weekends you may see 50-60 between rounding/admits since they have 1 "call person."

When I said that seems like a lot, they told me that with some of the more stable patients they only spend 5 minutes on those patients. Am I insane for feeling like that is an extremely short amount of time? I feel like trying to see 30's every day means you're rushed, and rushed people miss things. And small things lead to extra days or not catching something early.

---

Members don't see this ad.

 

[rokshana]

I took a job a few hours from home rounding on 15-20 a day with 3-5 admits a day. I start next month.

Through some connections, got an interview at a large hospital closer to home.

They said 15 was extremely light, 20 feels like a vacation. Close to 30 is a normal day, and then on the weekends you may see 50-60 between rounding/admits since they have 1 "call person."

When I said that seems like a lot, they told me that with some of the more stable patients they only spend 5 minutes on those patients. Am I insane for feeling like that is an extremely short amount of time? I feel like trying to see 30's every day means you're rushed, and rushed people miss things. And small things lead to extra days or not catching something early.

run..run away as fast as you can from that hospital...20 should NOT feel like a vacation...that should be the max you are expected to see on a regular basis. As for 50- 60 in a day??? Cross cover sure, but to admit and round? no...just no.

 

[Siggy]

I took a job a few hours from home rounding on 15-20 a day with 3-5 admits a day. I start next month.

Through some connections, got an interview at a large hospital closer to home.

They said 15 was extremely light, 20 feels like a vacation. Close to 30 is a normal day, and then on the weekends you may see 50-60 between rounding/admits since they have 1 "call person."

When I said that seems like a lot, they told me that with some of the more stable patients they only spend 5 minutes on those patients. Am I insane for feeling like that is an extremely short amount of time? I feel like trying to see 30's every day means you're rushed, and rushed people miss things. And small things lead to extra days or not catching something early.

EMCare in South Florida?

 

[jm192]

Nah, medium sized city in KY.

 

[gutonc]

If they're paying you at least 4x what the place you're starting at next month is paying, consider it for a year or 2 and make some coin.

Otherwise, f*** that noise.

 

[DrSnips]

There is no way to safely round on 50-60 patients. That is a liability nightmare you need to avoid.

 

[Doc_Mcstuffins]

15-20 total patients per day (admissions and rounding)!is average patient census in my area, none over 20 per day. Anything over 20 patients per day is on high end and you would need to see a pay difference as a result.

If you're a data driven person, from 2016 Hospitalist magazine survey, average number of patients encounters during day for full time hospitalists is 16.77. Survey of hospitalist said reasonable number of patients encounters during day is 15.54.

 

[Karrde]

The numbers you are hearing from that second hospital boggle the mind. Under no circumstances should that position be considered. It is a liability nightmare waiting to happen. 20 should absolutely be the hard-cap and even that is pushing it. My previous job I did about 15-20 a day and absolutely hated it. Also groups that separate rounding shifts from admitting shifts if you can find them are a godsend.

 

[chessknt]

50-60 would only be doable with 3 midlevels that were well trained and reliable but even then the liability is significant. Solo it would not be possible to legally bill all the visits (eg lowest billing level for 15 minutes of service=12.5h straight for 50 patients), let alone actually care for them.

 

[KnuxNole]

15 per day is what I would consider a "safe" amount of patients to see. I agree with the above that 20 is even pushing it, depending on the acuity of the patients and whether you have ICU patients in the mix, it can be a nightmare. I would rather be able to practice safely than miss things and cause harm. Sure, the more stable patient require less time, but the mentality of only needing 5 minutes on them is just asking for trouble...that arrogance will get someone killed.

If someone told me during an interview that close to 30 is a normal day, they would need a forklift to get me up after laughing so hard. Let them work those weekends of 60 patients per day, where they would be so rushed their physical exam consists of simply shaking their hand. Or, simply peering through the door and documenting "AOx3" and calling it a day.

 

[Army Doctor]

I took a job a few hours from home rounding on 15-20 a day with 3-5 admits a day. I start next month.

Through some connections, got an interview at a large hospital closer to home.

They said 15 was extremely light, 20 feels like a vacation. Close to 30 is a normal day, and then on the weekends you may see 50-60 between rounding/admits since they have 1 "call person."

When I said that seems like a lot, they told me that with some of the more stable patients they only spend 5 minutes on those patients. Am I insane for feeling like that is an extremely short amount of time? I feel like trying to see 30's every day means you're rushed, and rushed people miss things. And small things lead to extra days or not catching something early.

That is insane!
I am surprised to read this terrible workload in today's market with real short supply of physicians.
I live and work in North California.
We have no procedures requirement.
Average census to round is 10-12 plus 1-2 admits daily.
Week on week off, 12 hour shifts but you do not need to stay in house for 12 hours.
An average Hospitalist working no extra shifts will make approx. 325k annually (including all bonuses etc).
I believe that is fair value in the current supply demand market.
But many of our colleagues short sell themselves which keeps the administration happy!!
And they keep making money off your hard work!!

 

[Soccer171983]

A lot of liability seeing that volume. I would avoid that. Now if they are giving you NP or something like that, it may be a different story. I know people who are seeing 30-40 patients a day with 1 very experienced NP but that is not by any means a vacation. You can see that if you have several residents running the show for you and you are cosigning notes but that is still a large number under your belt liability wise. 10 should feel light 15 pretty normal and 20-25 i would consider to be heavier.

 

[InvestingDoc]

A lot of liability seeing that volume. I would avoid that. Now if they are giving you NP or something like that, it may be a different story. I know people who are seeing 30-40 patients a day with 1 very experienced NP but that is not by any means a vacation. You can see that if you have several residents running the show for you and you are cosigning notes but that is still a large number under your belt liability wise. 10 should feel light 15 pretty normal and 20-25 i would consider to be heavier.

Agree completely. I start to feel like I'm missing things around the 25 patients /day threshold. Once with our most experienced NP I hit 44 patient encounters between 6am to midnight. The stress was something I never want to experience again no matter how much I get paid. Seeing that many patients is a matter of time before something big gets missed and you get sued.

 

[Raryn]

I took a job a few hours from home rounding on 15-20 a day with 3-5 admits a day. I start next month.

Through some connections, got an interview at a large hospital closer to home.

They said 15 was extremely light, 20 feels like a vacation. Close to 30 is a normal day, and then on the weekends you may see 50-60 between rounding/admits since they have 1 "call person."

When I said that seems like a lot, they told me that with some of the more stable patients they only spend 5 minutes on those patients. Am I insane for feeling like that is an extremely short amount of time? I feel like trying to see 30's every day means you're rushed, and rushed people miss things. And small things lead to extra days or not catching something early.

Spending 5 minutes seeing the patient for a stable individual who has been there a couple days is reasonable.

But spending 5 minutes total seeing the patient, putting in orders, contacting any necessary consultants, talking to any necessary family AND documenting the above? That's insane. Things will get dropped.