title: CEO's perceptions of hospitalists: diffusion of the strategy.
abstract: Many hospitals have initiated a strategy to reduce costs and improve quality of care by using physicians as "hospitalists." A hospitalist specializes in inpatient care. This article reports the findings of survey research examining CEO perceptions of the hospitalist model, with particular interest in diffusion of the strategy in rural and low managed care hospital markets. Findings indicate there is less diffusion of the hospitalist model to rural areas because of lack of information about the cost effectiveness of the program and medical staff resistance. Recommendations to increase adoption of the hospitalist strategy include educating about the benefits of the strategy and paying attention to areas of concern by the medical staff.
authors.affiliation: Community Health Sciences at the College of Health, University of Southern Mississippi, USA.
authors.forename: Joan L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Exline
authors.forename: Sharon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Topping
authors.forename: Cathy
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Baxter
mesh_terms: D001291:Attitude of Health Personnel; D016542:Chief Executive Officers, Hospital / Q000523:psychology*; D003363:Cost Control / Q000379:methods; D004059:Diffusion of Innovation; D006302:Health Services Research; D020445:Hospitalists; D006780:Hospitals, Rural; D006801:Humans; D007325:Institutional Practice / Q000458:organization & administration*; D008329:Managed Care Programs; D017146:Models, Organizational; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States