Hospitalist Program

The general pediatrics physician model used to be that specialists from different areas of medicine rotated on and off the general peds unit and the community, primary care physician would manage and coordinate care for the hospitalized patient. Now, Miller Children’s Hospital Long Beach offers dedicated 24/7, inpatient general pediatric coverage by board-certified pediatric attending physicians when a child needs to be admitted into the general pediatrics unit. When a child requires hospitalization because of a general pediatric health issue, Miller Children’s hospitalists—a group of hospital-based general pediatric physicians, who regularly treat and manage inpatient general pediatric cases—step in to act as the hospitalized child’s primary physician.

This benefits both families and their primary care physician, because they have a specific physician to go to, available at all times of the day, rather than a different specialist being rotated through each day.  Also, hospitalists provide continuous attending-level care with general pediatric expertise, while still benefiting from a children’s hospital and having in-house access to pediatric sub-specialists if needed.

Benefits of the Hospitalist Program

• 24/7 attending-level coverage
• Access to pediatric sub-specialists when needed
• Experience in managing and treating general pediatric health conditions
• In-house knowledge of hospital routines and policies
• Direct communication with the primary care physician
• Daily rounding with parents for status updates and to answer questions at multiple times in the day

Continuity of Care

Miller Children’s hospitalists’ completely manage the child’s inpatient care during hospitalization, but keep communication lines open with the referring primary care physician. The hospitalist keeps the community primary care physician apprised of the patient’s status with timely updates, consultations and availability to discuss any issues. Once hospitalization is complete, the pediatric hospitalist turns care back over to the primary care physician.