Hospitalists as triagists: Description of the triagist role across academic medical centers

Sadie Trammell Velásquez, Emily S. Wang, Andrew A. White, Jagriti Chadha, Michael Mader, Luci K. Leykum, Jacqueline Pugh

Research output: Contribution to journalReview articlepeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

From the hospitalist perspective, triaging involves the evaluation of a patient for potential admission to an inpatient service. Although traditionally done by residents, many academic hospitalist groups have assumed the responsibility for triaging. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 235 adult hospitalists at 10 academic medical centers (AMCs) to describe the similarities and differences in the triagist role and assess the activities and skills associated with the role. Eight AMCs have a defined triagist role; at the others, hospitalists supervise residents/advanced practice providers. The triagist role is generally filled by a faculty physician and shared by all hospitalists. We found significant variability in verbal communication practices (P = .02) and electronic communication practices (P < .0001) between the triagist and the current provider (eg, emergency department, clinic provider), and in the percentage of patients evaluated in person (P < .0001). Communication skills, personal efficiency, and systems knowledge are dominant themes of attributes of an effective triagist.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)87-90
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of hospital medicine
Volume15
Issue number2
DOIs
StatePublished - 2020

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Internal Medicine
  • Leadership and Management
  • Fundamentals and skills
  • Health Policy
  • Care Planning
  • Assessment and Diagnosis

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