The Division of Hospital Medicine (Hospitalists) within the Department of Medicine provides a broad range of services for inpatients at Fox Chase, and occasional outpatient services.
The inpatient hospitalist service meets the needs of patients requiring acute care hospitalization. Some of the medical problems diagnosed and treated include acute infections, dehydration, and metabolic disorders, as well as other conditions related to the heart, lungs, gastrointestinal tract, and kidneys response to the patient’s underlying cancer.
Working in conjunction with their colleagues in medical oncology, surgical oncology, radiation oncology and medical subspecialties, our hospitalists coordinate and manage the acute medical problems of those patients requiring admission to the Center.
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Hospital Medicine
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Our hospitalists assist in the development of a post-discharge plan put together with input from the patient, family, nurses, therapists, case managers, social workers, and the patient’s primary oncology team. By communicating with the patient’s primary care provider and oncologist, our hospitalists help with the transition from the inpatient to the outpatient setting.
Our hospitalists may be asked to work in cooperation with the Department of Surgical Oncology when post-operative surgical patients require evaluation and treatment of pre-existing or new medical problems such as Diabetes mellitus, coronary artery disease, and hypertension, while those patients are in the hospital.
Fox Chase’s Direct Referral Unit (DRU) is overseen by the Hospitalist service. This area provides urgent care for Fox Chase outpatients upon referral by their primary Fox Chase medical, surgical, or radiation oncologist. Currently the DRU evaluates and treats patients six days a week.
Our hospitalists offer a Transitional Care Clinic (TCC). The TCC allows patients recently discharged from Fox Chase who are at high risk for readmission to be evaluated within 3-5 days of their discharge. This early visit will be used to determine the success of the plan made at the time of discharge and modify the plan as needed to minimize the chance for readmission.
The hospitalists at Fox Chase help establish a bridge between highly specialized cancer care and general medicine. Their goal is to provide the highest quality medical care to patients receiving cancer care at Fox Chase.
