Table 2.
Descriptive characteristics of 65 comparative evaluations of hospitalist performancea
| Study characteristics | Studies, n (%)b |
|---|---|
| Country of research | |
| Canada | 2 (3.0) |
| United States | 63 (97.0) |
| Research design | |
| Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trial | 9 (13.8) |
| Interrupted time series | 1 (1.5) |
| Prospective cohort | 2 (3.1) |
| Retrospective cohort | 35 (53.8) |
| Before and after | 18 (27.7) |
| Patient eligibility | |
| Adult patients only | 25 (38.5) |
| Paediatric patients only | 10 (15.4) |
| Older adult patients only (age ≥65 years) | 3 (4.6) |
| Medicare/Medicaid enrolment | 3 (4.6) |
| HMO/VA enrolment | 5 (7.7) |
| Diagnostic/disease eligibility | |
| Asthma/bronchiolitis | 3 (4.6) |
| Chest pain | 6 (9.2) |
| Cancer/haematology | 2 (3.1) |
| Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease | 4 (6.2) |
| Community-acquired or bacterial pneumonia | 14 (21.5) |
| Gastrointestinal/digestive disorders | 8 (12.3) |
| Heart failure | 9 (13.8) |
| Human immunodeficiency virus | 1 (1.5) |
| Hypovolemia/dehydration | 2 (3.1) |
| Myocardial infarction | 2 (3.1) |
| Nutritional/metabolic disorders | 4 (6.2) |
| Orthopaedic and other surgical procedures | 9 (13.8) |
| Psychiatric illness/substance dependency | 2 (3.1) |
| Stroke | 4 (6.2) |
| Trauma | 2 (3.1) |
| Urinary tract infection | 4 (6.2) |
| Viral illness | 2 (3.1) |
| Hospital type | |
| Teaching hospital | 54 (83.1) |
| Community/rural hospital | 11 (16.9) |
| Location of care | |
| General medical/surgical service | 60 (92.3) |
| Chest pain observation unit | 2 (3.1) |
| Intensive care unit | 1 (1.5) |
| Medical short-stay observation unit | 1 (1.5) |
| Psychiatric unit | 1 (1.5) |
| Hospitalist practice structureb | |
| Private hospitalists | 22 (33.8) |
| Nonacademic faculty hospitalists | 26 (40.0) |
| Academic hospitalist attending physicians | 33 (47.7) |
| Mix of practice structures | |
| Comparative practice structureb | |
| Community-based physicians | 34 (52.3) |
| Traditional academic attending physicians | 41 (63.1) |
aHMO, health maintenance organization; VA, Veterans Affairs; bpercentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding; cnumber of articles may not sum to 65 as several studies compared more than one physician structure.