RENFREW COUNTY (Renfrew) — Renfrew Victoria Hospital is implementing a new model of care that is said to benefit both inpatients and local physicians.
By July 2020, inpatient care at RVH will be managed by Hospitalists, who are dedicated inpatient physicians who work exclusively in the hospital setting. This replaces the current model whereby general practitioners/family physicians are granted hospital privileges to provide care to the patients in their family practices when they are hospitalized.
“This will change the face of how we do care in the hospital in a good way,” said Dr. Steve Radke, RVH Chief of Staff.
The shift to the Hospitalist model of care began in Canadian hospitals as long as 20 years ago and it is increasingly being implemented in hospitals across the country.
In Renfrew, the implementation of a new model is in response to the overall shortage of physicians in our community and the difficulty recruiting new physicians in combination with the number of long-term GPs reaching retirement.
Randy Penney, RVH President and CEO, says he is deeply concerned for Renfrew and area and, in fact, most of Renfrew County regarding the supply of family physicians and other primary care providers.
“Our hospital has been and will continue to be an active participant trying to recruit physicians. However, at a higher level, at the community level and the provincial level, serious discussions are required that look not only at the supply, but also the distribution of primary care providers. Renfrew does not qualify for rural funding for recruitment of new physicians which certainly doesn’t help with our struggles,” said Penney.
With the decreasing numbers, the remaining family physicians are facing increasing demands on their time, which is often split between large family practices, coverage in the emergency department, and inpatient care.
They are also tasked with assuming the role of ‘most responsible physician’ for orphan inpatients, the growing number of patients who have no family physician, in addition to caring for their own patients.
Furthermore, many of those patients are now living longer with more acute/chronic conditions, making inpatient care much more complex and requiring a special skill set.
The status quo is not sustainable, physicians are stressed notes Radke. “The current model is challenging. There is a real risk of physician burnout.”
RVH is currently recruiting Hospitalists who will be on one-week rotations providing care for inpatients on a 24-7 basis. Partnering with the Hospitalists in this model will be Nurse Practitioners. Some local physicians will be continuing at RVH in a support role during the transition.
“This is an exciting development for patients and physicians. We will have physicians who want to focus on primary care in the community and we will have physicians in the hospital who want to and enjoy providing that care. This is a growing phenomenon and we’ll see a majority of hospitals go this route over the next few years. We have had great leadership from Dr. Radke and a committee of physicians to come up with a made-for-RVH model,” said Penney.
For patients, the new model will mean improved access to the physician during their hospital stay. The dedicated hospitalists will be more available to inpatients and their family members, able to follow-up on tests, deal with problems that may arise, and coordinate hospital care, including transitions in care and discharge planning.
The Hospitalists will be well prepared to deal with the complex acute and chronic conditions of patients because that is their sole focus, and they will be more familiar and comfortable working in our electronic health information system.
Under this new system, orphan patients and patients whose physicians don’t have hospital privileges can rest assured when it comes to having physician care if hospitalized.
The GPs, who are no longer required to attend hospital rounds, will be able to focus on primary care in the community, and will enjoy a better work-life balance, improved wellness and reduced risk of burnout.
