Hospitalist Medicine
Our hospitalists work closely with your other doctors to coordinate treatment, improve efficiency, and help you recover as quickly and safely as possible.
Overview
When you or a loved one needs to be admitted to a hospital, a hospitalist doctor may join your care team. A hospitalist is a physician who focuses entirely on the care of patients during their hospital stay. At Summit Health, these professionals work closely with your other doctors to coordinate treatment, improve efficiency, and help you recover as quickly and safely as possible.
Every Summit Health hospitalist physician is a medical doctor (MD) or a doctor of osteopathic medicine (DO) who holds board certification in internal medicine. Because a hospitalist is available 24 hours a day, someone who understands hospital medicine is always ready to answer your questions and address your family's concerns.
Your hospitalist doctor communicates frequently with everyone on your care team, from the emergency department to the critical care unit. This close collaboration is at the heart of strong inpatient care coordination. It keeps your primary care physician informed and helps make sure that every test, treatment, and decision fits your needs.
If your hospital stay is winding down and you are transitioning to a skilled nursing facility, we can help guide that next step. Our team supports you through each part of the journey, so the move from the hospital to continued care feels smooth and reassuring.
Conditions and procedures
Summit Health employs full-time hospitalist physicians who manage and coordinate care for our patients throughout their hospital stay. Their goal is simple: to keep you comfortable, informed, and well cared for from admission to discharge.
Your hospital medicine team will:
- Examine you and monitor your progress each day
- Discuss your needs with your primary care physician
- Coordinate all examinations, tests, and treatments
- Share information about your condition with you and your primary care physician
- Send your primary care physician a summary of your hospital records and medications
- Arrange your follow-up care after you leave the hospital
- Prescribe the medicines you need when you go home
Summit Health-affiliated hospitals
An affiliated hospital is a hospital where a doctor can practice and admit patients. Many of our providers have multiple hospital affiliations, and you can find these listed on each provider's profile. Our affiliated hospitals include:
- Cooperman Barnabas Medical Center | Livingston, NJ
- Hackensack University Medical Center | Hackensack, NJ
- HUMC Mountainside Medical Center | Montclair, NJ
- Morristown Medical Center | Morristown, NJ
- Overlook Medical Center | Summit, NJ
- The Valley Hospital | Paramus, NJ
Patient resources
Frequently Asked Questions
A hospitalist doctor is a physician who specializes in caring for patients while they are in the hospital. Instead of seeing patients in an office, a hospitalist physician focuses on hospital medicine, managing your treatment and coordinating with your other doctors throughout your stay.
No. Your hospitalist cares for you only during your hospital stay. They keep your primary care physician updated the entire time and send a full summary of your records once you are discharged, so your regular doctor stays fully informed.
Yes. A hospitalist physician is available 24 hours a day. That means there is always a doctor familiar with your care ready to answer questions and respond to changes in your condition.
Hospitalists lead your inpatient care coordination. They examine you, order and review tests, communicate with specialists, and make sure every part of your treatment works together. This helps reduce delays and supports a faster, safer recovery.
Before you are discharged, your hospitalist arranges your follow-up care and prescribes any medicines you need at home. If you are moving to a skilled nursing facility, our team helps guide that transition so your continued care stays on track.
Each Summit Health provider lists their hospital affiliations on their online profile. This makes it easy to see where your doctor can practice and admit patients.