LEXINGTON, KY Hospital medicine physicians are a key ingredient for a positive hospital experience. Whether your patient requires minor ER care or admission to the hospital for several days, a hospitalist will be the physician to care for them. Hospital medicine physicians specialize in, and oversee all aspects of your patient’s care within the hospital setting.
The use of hospital medicine physicians translates into benefits for both patients and physicians. Patients can feel comfortable knowing that they are receiving round-the-clock, high quality care from physicians who are intimately familiar with the hospital setting. Primary care physicians no longer have to fit hospital rounds into an already hectic schedule and are able to maintain higher office efficiency, while being confident in the knowledge that their patient is receiving top-notch care.
Hospitalist Section at Lexington Clinic
The Hospital Medicine section was established by Robert Cooper, MD and Mitchael Estridge, MD. The current section is made up of seven board-certified physicians, Jamil A. Farooqui, MD; Mitchael G. Estridge, MD, PhD; Timothy D. Brammel, MD; Dan E. Calleja, MD; Yuchen Ma, MD; Gerry A. Bernardo, MD; and Imran Hassan, MD.
Lexington Clinic hospitalists work at Saint Joseph Hospital in Lexington and have courtesy privileges at Saint Joseph East, where Lexington Clinic has adjacent medical offices.
As the hospital face of Lexington Clinic, the Hospital medicine section cares for Lexington Clinic in-patients who are admitted by Lexington Clinic Family Practice or Internal Medicine physicians, as well as patients with complex medical issues who were admitted by Lexington Clinic specialists.
“I often sense a feeling of relief among patients and their families when they learn I am with Lexington Clinic. You must remember, that in the hospital setting, patients are often at their lowest point and something familiar is very comforting,” says Jamil A. Farooqui, MD, Lexington Clinic hospital medicine head of section.
While a large percentage of the patients they see are Lexington Clinic patients, Farooqui is quick to point out that all seven physicians in the hospital medicine section take service calls at Saint Joseph ER for all patients.
Taking ownership of patient care in the hospital and gaining patients’ trust is the challenge and the reward for Farooqui. Hospital medicine allows me to “work out of the box,” he says. In a complex in-patient medical situation he must consult quickly and in real time with his specialist colleagues, not waiting for a time consuming out-patient consult. “We put the patient at the center of the care by having multiple doctors, cardiologist, pulmonary, nephrologists and others all consult at the same time,” Farooqui says.
Recruitment Opportunity & Challenge
Every Hospital Medicine leader acknowledges the challenge of recruiting physicians to their practice. Farooqui is upbeat when discussing the issue because he feels Lexington Clinic’s location in Central Kentucky gives him a real advantage. “When recruiting physicians you have to be attractive with the city, the lifestyle and the coverage within the hospital. Lexington Clinic’s location and organization allow us to offer all of those elements. We also govern our own schedules which allow us to determine when and where we work. That self-governance is very attractive to me and to my colleagues,” he says.
TAKING OWNERSHIP OF PATIENT CARE IN THE HOSPITAL AND GAINING PATIENTS’ TRUST IS THE CHALLENGE AND THE REWARD OF HOSPITAL MEDICINE.