Purpose: To purpose of this project was to improve patient satisfaction with the Hospitalist program at a community hospital through an education program geared towards primary care providers and their patients. Hospitalists allow primary care providers to care for an increased number of outpatients without having to change their hours of operation and allows for prompt attention to emergencies for the hospitalized patient. Patients cared for by Hospitalists have a lower length of stay, decreased cost, and lower mortality relative to their immediate availability. The value of Hospitalist services have not kept pace with patient satisfaction. Patients may see this as fragmentation of care, lack of continuity in Hospitalists on a day to day basis, communication issues with the primary care provider, and lack of education to the patient while hospitalized and from the primary care provider to their patients prior to hospitalization. Goals and Objectives: to provide service that is leader in customer satisfaction, to create a seamless service between primary care providers and their patients, and to have a patient service driven discharge plan. Education of the community members and private providers to the benefits of the Hospitalist service will clear misconceptions, facilitate a seamless service between primary care providers, their patients, and the hospitalists in addition to alleviating patient anxiety regarding learning about Hospitalists for the first time when hospitalized. Plan: Brochures were developed explaining the Hospitalist service and made available in the hospital, including a picture and brief biography on each of the providers, Hospitalists were provided with business cards so patients may know who cared for them, patients are contacted within seventy-two hours of discharge to validate understanding of their discharge plan, primary care providers will received an admission and discharge dictation on their hospitalized patients within twenty four hours. Still patient satisfaction with the care provided by Hospitalists was poor. To achieve improved patient satisfaction: provider surveys were developed and distributed to design a program of partnership with the primary care providers with the goal of providing the Hospitalist brochures to patients from the primary care provider offices. Outcomes: Patient satisfaction with care provided by the Hospitalist improved after brochures explaining the Hospitalist program were distributed to primary care provider offices. Provider questionnaires identified dissatisfaction with the discharge notification method and timeliness of the discharge dictation. Provider satistfaction with the quality of care provided to the provider improved after the initiation of a discharge notification system; calling provider offices daily informing the offices of the discharge of their patients.
