Re: Enter the Laborist
From: louis weinstein (louisbweinstein@hotmail.com)
Tue Jul 12 07:52:34 2005
At Sat, 18 Jun 2005, RModugno@aol.com wrote:
>
>This is an interesting trend.Any thoughts? Did any of the listers attend
>this talk at ACOG?
>
>Enter the Laborist
>Source: Contemporary OB/GYN Newsline Meeting News
I thank everyone for their interesting responces. It is nice to see
one's work being discussed and I need all the HELLP I can get. Lou
Weinstein
>
>Louis Weinstein, MD, Professor and Chair of Obstetrics at Thomas Jefferson
>University in Philadelphia, wants to transform obstetrics. Just as overworked
>and frustrated internists gave rise to the hospitalist in the 1990s, Dr.
>Weinstein sees overworked and frustrated obstetricians evolving into laborists.
>"The Laborist is a movement that is starting to catch on," Dr. Weinstein told
> the ACM First Current Issues Update yesterday. "In 2003, I had the only
>article on the subject. Two years later, at least 10 hospitals and chains have
>introduced the position."
>The concept of the Laborist is straightforward, Dr. Weinstein said. He or she
> is a hospital employee hired to staff the delivery room and nothing more.
>Like the hospitalist, who is employed to care for hospital inpatients, or the
>ER physician hired to provide emergency care, the Laborist is employed to care
>for women in labor.
>"Hospitalists have the highest satisfaction and lowest burnout rate among all
> physicians," Dr. Weinstein explained. "They work very focused, very limited
>hours. It's shift work, the same predictable work schedule that has made the
>emergency department a popular choice among so many physicians. Obstetricians
> are poised for the same move."
>The current practice model combines an office practice and a hospital
>practice for most obstetricians. That locks practitioners in an unending cycle of
>hospital rounds, deliveries, surgeries, more rounds, office visits, evening
>rounds, and late night telephone calls.
>"Ob/gyns, it is time to take a look at ourselves and see if we can make it
>better," Dr. Weinstein said. "You are on the treadmill. You never get off
>unless you leave town."
>Younger physicians are avoiding obstetrics, Dr. Weinstein added. The problem
>is not liability but time. They know traditional obstetricians work a
>treadmill. Today's physicians want to work hard and make a difference, he explained,
>but they also want to have a life.
>The Laborist gives them both.
>>From the physician perspective, working for a hospital is very likely a
>financial bonus. Typical annual pay is around $175,000, but with no office
>expenses, that represents a boost for many obstetricians. Work as an employee also
>includes guaranteed vacations, CE time, and benefits.
>>From the hospital side, moving to Laborists is revenue-neutral. It also
>increases physician satisfaction and cost-effectiveness, boosts patient outcomes,
>controls liability costs, and increases patient satisfaction.
>"You are gong to see this movement take off in the next 5 to 10 years," Dr.
>Weinstein predicted. "It will be a tremendous recruitment tool and a
>tremendous quality tool for our profession."
>
>Originally published: May 10, 2005
>
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>
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>Robert Modugno MD MBA FACOG
>Marietta, GA
>
