Hospital Care

Effective April 12, 2010, the Internal Medicine Physicians at IMA will no longer manage patient care in the hospital setting. Inpatient care has become more intensive and complex requiring the constant presence of physicians in the hospital. This is a national trend that has shaped the development of the Hospitalist physician program. Hospitalists are physicians trained to manage patients while they are in the hospital, but return patients to their primary care physician for outpatient care.

As a result of this change, we will be more available to manage the ever increasing office needs of our patients. We will have more available appointments for urgent sick visits and more availability for preventative care and follow-up needs. We will continue to be on-call and accessible 24/7 through the answering service. In the event an admission is necessary, an IMA internist will coordinate care with a Hospitalist and provide key information regarding current and past medical history. The hospitalists will also keep the internists informed of the events of all hospitalizations.

We believe that this cooperation between our colleagues in the hospital and ourselves in the outpatient setting will continue to improve the quality of care we provide to you.

The Specialists of IMA will continue to provide inpatient care and consultations.