The majority of internists and family physicians up my way have chosen to not give up hospital practice, forcing the hospitals to play “hardball” so that their subsidized hospitalists get utilized, such as forcing all admissions to be seen within 2 hours.

Young family physicians are being told they cannot do both in patient and outpatient work, much like family physicians of prior eras were told they could not/should not deliver babies, do er work, ICU work, surgical procedures, fracture care, etc, etc, etc. They are missing out on one of the most rewarding parts of practice.

I think primary care doctors will regret the day they gave up hospital medicine; it just makes them more easily replaced by midlevels.

By the way, hospitalists in my neighborhood stin. God forbid they should ever try to communicate with the PCP.

A family practitioner