Doctors whose primary professional focus is caring for hospitalized patients are called Hospitalists. Hospital medicine, like emergency medicine, is a specialty organized around a site of care (the hospital), rather than an organ (like cardiology), a disease (like oncology), or a patient's age (like pediatrics).
Since hospitalists practice in the hospital, they are able to spend more time talking to you and your family about your care, are close by in emergencies and are able to coordinate your care more effectively. Using a Hospitalist Team enables your primary care physician to be more available to you in the office and enables the hospitalist to be more available to care for you when you are at your sickest.
During the course of your hospitalization, your hospitalist and primary care physician may talk further regarding your treatment. At discharge, your hospitalist will communicate with your primary care physician to discuss further treatment needs, help arrange follow-up, and prescribe the necessary medication. He or she will also send your hospital records to your primary care physician.