John Bouchard, MD
Hospital medicine is a relatively new field in healthcare. First defined in the mid-1990s, hospital medicine is becoming an increasingly popular approach to care for patients in the hospital. Physicians who specialize in this field are called hospitalists; the majority of hospitalists are trained in internal medicine. Often, hospitalists first see patients in the Emergency Department when it has been determined that the patient needs to be admitted to the hospital. The hospitalists will follow the patient’s general medical care until they are discharged. They are responsible for ordering tests, interpreting test results, prescribing medications, and organizing therapy or specialized medical care.