The VJH Surgery, Hospitalist Co-management of the Elderly Surgical Patient meeting organized by Dr. Paul Dooley and held on November 20, 2019 was a success! There was a consensus that, indeed, the elderly surgical patient often presents with co-morbidities beyond the admitting diagnosis. Not infrequently, these medical issues require far more time, investigation, and medical expertise than the surgical problem and are often beyond the scope of practice of the surgeon. In principle, patients would be best served by early medical co-management by the hospitalist service (if not associated with a GP with admitting privileges). There was concern surrounding just how much of an FTE equivalent this would constitute. An agreement determined that the best approach would be to review recent hip fracture admissions to determine; the number of admissions; and also, the percentage where hospitalist involvement occurred. Richard Harding agreed to help facilitate review with administrative support.
Pending results of the review, the hospitalist group would be better able to determine the impact of such a program on their workload and FTE requirements moving forward.
Subsequent meetings will take place once the above information is collected and reviewed.