“So, how many patients should a hospitalist take care of?” I have been asked that question hundreds of times over the years.
“Well,” I start after a little throat clearing, “we know the average daily census of hospitalists is about 15.1 My impression is that programs that run busier than that risk burning out the hospitalists and making the nurses, patients, and families unhappy. And I suspect that hospitalists with larger workloads have longer lengths of stay. But I can’t prove it.”