title: Comparison of hospital costs and length of stay associated with general internists and hospitalist physicians at a community hospital.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare initial and long-term hospital resource utilization of hospitalists and general internists at an urban community hospital.
  
  
  METHODS
  A retrospective cohort analysis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Data were collected from 11 750 admissions associated with 28 diagnosis-related groups for 6 years (October 1, 1994, to September 30, 2000). Hospital cost, length of stay, mortality, and 30-day readmission rates of general and hospitalist internists were analyzed for comparison.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Hospitalists had generally lower utilization compared with general internists. Overall, length of stay and hospital cost were 16.1% and 8.3% lower, respectively, for hospitalists. Hospital mortality and 30-day readmissions were similar for both physician groups.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Hospital resource utilization is moderately lower for hospitalists compared with private practicing general internists.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Orlando Regional Healthcare, Orlando, FL 32806, USA. georgee@orhs.org
authors.forename: George D
authors.initials: GD
authors.lastname: Everett
authors.forename: Manuel P
authors.initials: MP
authors.lastname: Anton
authors.forename: Brenda K
authors.initials: BK
authors.lastname: Jackson
authors.forename: Carolyn
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Swigert
authors.forename: Nizam
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Uddin
mesh_terms: D015331:Cohort Studies; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D005260:Female; D006295:Health Resources / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D017721:Hospital Costs; D020445:Hospitalists; D006764:Hospitals, Community / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine; D007396:Internship and Residency; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014481:United States; D000078329:Workforce