Issue link: https://viewer.e-digitaledition.com/i/441611
H O S P I TA L I S T M E D I C I N E WA S introduced in the United States in 1996 to help meet this chal- lenge. Today, there are more than 44,000 hospitalists in over 60 percent of the nation's hospitals, according to surveys done by the Society of Hospital Medicine and the American Hospital Association. "The hospitalist profession arose from the need to have a physician that was responsible for patient care in the hos- pital throughout the day," says Mark P. Foster, President and CEO of Inpatient Medical Services (IMS). "It evolved further, expanding to nocturnists that completed the 24-hour care cycle in the acute care setting." Headquartered in Akron, Ohio, IMS is a regional provider of 24/7 hospitalist and post-acute care physician services, including transitional and complex care management. It was the first hospitalist medicine private practice in Northeast Ohio when it was founded in 1997 by six physicians board-certified in internal medicine: Drs. Craig Stevens, Paul Pennza, Mike Huber, John Shin, Bob Schaal and Greg Ferner. Today, IMS has partnerships with more 2,000 physicians and 30 health- care facilities in Ohio and surrounding states. Services include + hospitalist and nocturnist programs + acute and post-acute care + transitional care + orthopedic collaboration and surgical clearance + emergent consultation + co-medical management + pre-admission testing + clinical decision unit management. "Our practice was built on solid part- nerships with primary care physicians who trusted IMS hospitalists to provide quality, compassionate acute care to their patients in the hospital. This trust resulted from a close communication with the primary care physician," says Dawn S. Murray, IMS Regional Vice President. "Our hospitalists now offer a critical component in the overall management of patients in the hospital. They deliver the best possible patient For PrIMarY Care PHYSICIanS, tHe CHallenGe HaS alWaYS Been tHe SaMe: HoW to enSUre tIMelY, HIGH QUalItY Care For tHeIr HoSPItalIZed PatIentS, WHIle doInG tHe SaMe For tHeIr In-oFFICe PatIentS. Inpatient Medical Services (IMS) has partnerships with more than 2,000 physicians and 30 healthcare facilities in Ohio and surrounding states. Shown here (L–R) are Jeffrey Janda, MD, and Rimon Daoud, MD, who serve as hospitalists at Mercy Medical Center in Canton, OH. JOE SMITHBERGER, SMITHBERGER PHOTOGRAPHY, NORTH CANTON, OH Inpatient Medical Services: The New Face of Hospitalist Medicine COV ER FE AT UR E By Michael Ferguson 6 | Cleveland/Akron/Canton MD NEWS ■ M D N E W S . CO M ■ JA N UA RY/ F E B R UA RY 2 0 1 5