When patients are admitted into Riverside Medical Center in Waupaca, they receive around the clock care from doctors, ranging from their primary care physician to a hospitalist like Dr. Gregrey Hiltgen, who recently took on the role of weekend hospitalist for ThedaCare/Riverside Medical Center.
“I wanted to change my practice a little to care for patients with a higher level of medical need,” said Dr. Hiltgen, 52, of Shawano, who was previously in practice in the Shawano area where he most recently worked with Aurora Health Care.
Dr. Hiltgen has a broad background in primary care medicine including inpatient care, OB care, pediatric care, and ER/ urgent care and began his practice in 1997 after residency training at St. Luke’s in Milwaukee. He is looking forward to partnering with the family medicine physicians at ThedaCare Waupaca. “I felt there was a really good group of family doctors to work with here,” he said. “They are very supportive of a hospitalist service in their hospital. When I take care of their patients on weekends, it’s a mutually beneficial arrangement that results in the best care for patients.”
Traditionally, in a rural family medicine, the primary care physician takes care of everything from outpatient to inpatient care, said Don Waldrop, practice administrator at ThedaCare Physicians in Waupaca. According to the New England Journal of Medicine, “a hospitalist is the term used to describe a physician who focuses on treating and coordinating care for people who have been hospitalized.”
“Hospitalists are generally board-certified primary care physicians who are trained to be intimately familiar with the ins and outs of hospital care,” said Waldrop. “According to the America Hospital Association, there are currently more than 20,000 hospitalists practicing in hospitals throughout the United States.” ThedaCare also has hospitalists at its Fox Cities hospitals.
“The hospitalist’s ‘office’ is the hospital itself, which means they are ‘hospital specialists’ and are very good at responding quickly to changes in the health status of hospitalized patients,” said Waldrop.
A hospitalist continues the scope of quality of care for the patient, said Waldrop. “They are an important member of the primary care physician’s care team and help with transitioning patients from the emergency room to the hospital, treating complicated conditions for hospitalized patients, and even transferring patients to another hospital or care facility when necessary,” he said. “Since the creation of the hospitalist role, research has shown that the role of the hospitalist improves the quality of inpatient care. For example, a New England Journal of Medicine study demonstrated that hospitalist care has been linked to reductions in both the duration of a patient's hospital stay as well as their risk of readmissions.”
Waldrop said primary care physicians in Waupaca are on call to serve patients and the community 7 days a week, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. “This means that in addition to being in clinic during the day, they receive urgent calls throughout the day and night, and they often have to come to the hospital at night to see hospitalized patients or patients that are being admitted through the emergency room,” he said. “In addition, our ThedaCare Waupaca physicians also serve the health care needs for over 850 nursing home residents in Waupaca County.”
A weekend hospitalist like Dr. Hiltgen provides on-site hospitalist coverage to support Riverside Medical Center, local primary care physicians and surgeons on weekends. He will manage hospital care of patients and work with primary care providers in real time or through phone calls and the electronic health record. “His role on the weekends will also reduce the burden of night time call for our physicians on weekends and free up time for them to be in clinic during the week to see their own patients,” said Waldrop.
