title: [Hospital medicine in Chile].
abstract: After 15 years of development of Hospital Medicine in Chile, there are several benefits of this discipline. Among others, a reduction in the length of hospital stay, readmissions, costs, and improved medical teaching of students, residents and fellows have been observed. However, in South América there are only isolated groups dedicated to Hospital Medicine in Chile, Argentina and Brazil, with a rather slow growth. The unjustified fear of competition from sub specialists, and the fee for service system of payment in our environment may be important factors to understand this phenomenon. The aging of the population makes imperative to improve the safety of our patients and to optimize processes and resources within the hospital, to avoid squandering healthcare resources. The following is a detailed and evidence-based article, on how hospital medicine might benefit both the public and prívate healthcare systems in Chile.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Medicina Interna, Grupo de Medicina Hospitalaria, Hospital Clínico Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago, Chile. glago@med.miami.edu
authors.forename: Gonzalo
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Eymin
authors.forename: Amir K
authors.initials: AK
authors.lastname: Jaffer
mesh_terms: D002677:Chile; D064416:Hospital Medicine / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D010359:Patient Readmission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data