Hospital Medicine Movement Grows in Scope, Impact
SHM estimates that there are more than 44,000 hospitalists in 2014. Here are some other facts and figures about the specialty:
- In 2014, it is estimated that hospitalists have a presence at 72% of U.S. hospitals, with an average group size of 12.3 physicians.
- In the 10-year period between 2003 and 2012, the percentage of hospitals with hospitalists has more than doubled. The overall penetration of hospitals with HM groups grew from 29% to 66%.
- In same 10-year period, the number of hospitalists grew from 11,159 to 38,114.
- Since the development of SHM’s award-winning mentored implementation program, 423 hospitals nationwide have adopted the model to address some of the most pressing hospital-based healthcare issues, such as readmissions, VTE, and glycemic control. SHM’s implementation guides on these issues have been downloaded more than 9,500 times.
- Research published in the Journal of Hospital Medicine in 2013 showed that SHM’s Project BOOST has helped reduce readmissions among hospitals collecting and reporting data.
