A New Hospitalist Model for Managing High-Cost, High-Need Patients

This resource describes a promising new hospitalist model for inpatient treatment of complex care patients.

• In July 2016, Commonwealth Care Alliance and Boston Medical Center created a hospitalist service staffed with physicians and mid-level providers who specialize in complex care. 
• This complex care hospitalist model has four fundamental, replicable components: communication, continuity of care, social determinants of health, and specialists in complex care.
• Preliminary results show that patients receiving this service had lower 30-day readmissions rates and lower rates of return to the emergency department, compared with patients receiving traditional hospitalist services.