hospitalist

noun

hos·pi·tal·ist | \ ˈhä-(ˌ)spi-tə-list

plural hospitalists

Definition of hospitalist

1 : a physician and especially an internist who specializes in providing and managing the care and treatment of hospitalized patients … the burden of trying to be all things to all of his patients became unmanageable. In 2006, after Wayne Memorial Hospital hired hospitalists—doctors who specialize in taking care of hospitalized patients—Dr. Dewar finally gave up hospital rounds.— Gardiner Harris … some insurers contract with doctors called hospitalists, who take over from a patient's primary physician while the patient is hospitalized.— Milt Freudenheim

2 : a health-care professional (such as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) who is not a physician but assumes a similar role —often used in combination If the hospitalist nurses encounter glitches that may delay the discharge or disagree with a specialist, they can call on the medical practice medical director or associate medical directors for help. — Case Management Advisor

Did you know? More Example Sentences Learn More About hospitalist

Did you know?

Hospitalist refers to what is rapidly becoming a new specialty in medicine, perhaps due in part to the rise of organized health care. These days, the care that you receive during a hospital stay may be coordinated and monitored by a doctor who is not your regular doctor or the referring physician. The word hospitalist itself first appeared in print in 1996 and derives, of course, from "hospital," which in turn can be traced back to the Medieval Latin hospitale, meaning "hospice" or "guest house."

Examples of hospitalist in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web Robinson, the hospitalist, also felt it could not be explained by medicine alone. — Elizabeth Chuck, NBC News, 13 Mar. 2022 The patient had just finished his last day of treatment when the hospitalist Dmitry Opolinsky took over his care. — New York Times, 16 Feb. 2022 But the pandemic has exposed how fragile that contract is, said Arora, the Illinois hospitalist. — Ed Yong, The Atlantic, 7 Jan. 2022 The arrival of the COVID-19 vaccine last winter couldn’t have come at a better time for Anchorage hospitalist Dr. Linnea Smith. — Anchorage Daily News, 18 Dec. 2021 Recinos, a family medicine hospitalist in California, was not wearing perfume. — NBC News, 4 Oct. 2021 Ohio could put the physical part of that emergency plan into place, but the problem is lack of staffing to take care of patients in those locations, said Dr. Alan Rivera, hospitalist at the Fulton County Health Center near Toledo. — Julie Washington, cleveland, 21 Sep. 2021 Along with colleagues at the Health Data Analytics Institute, Harvard hospitalist Ateev Mehrotra analyzed medical claims for 30 million individuals covered by Medicare, finding a number of surprising trends. — Stat Staff, STAT, 31 Aug. 2021 Jennifer Caputo-Seidler is a hospitalist on the Covid-19 unit at Tampa General Hospital and an assistant professor of medicine at the University of South Florida. — Jennifer Caputo-seidler, STAT, 27 Aug. 2021 See More

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'hospitalist.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

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Last Updated

18 May 2022

Cite this Entry

“Hospitalist.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hospitalist. Accessed 22 May. 2022.

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More Definitions for hospitalist

hospitalist

noun

hos·pi·tal·ist | \ ˈhäs-(ˌ)pit-ᵊl-əst

Medical Definition of hospitalist

2 : a health-care professional (as a nurse practitioner or physician assistant) who is not a physician but assumes a similar role —often used in combination If the hospitalist nurses encounter glitches that may delay the discharge or disagree with a specialist, they can call on the medical practice medical director or associate medical directors for help. — Case Management Advisor