Program Description

With over 20,000 Hospitalists comprising one of three largest fields in medicine, and emerging faster than any other specialty in medical history, the rapid growth of hospital medicine represents a change in the model of health care delivery. The University of Wisconsin Department of Medicine has embraced this vision to be on the leading edge of change in hospital-based internal medicine practice, by supporting the development of the hospitalist program. Now with 19 physicians and advanced practice nurse practitioners at two locations, the Hospitalist program has been inducted as a new division within the Department of Medicine.

The field of hospital medicine incorporates a full practice of inpatient care, translational research and quality initiatives into state-of-the-art medical practice through an academic focus. At University of Wisconsin Hospital and Clinics, hospitalists provide 24 hour on site care for acutely ill and highly complex medical patients, staff a full teaching service and supply expert consultative services hospital-wide. We support our internal medicine specialties through the collaborative inpatient care of CHF, Oncology, BMT, MHS and GHC patients. Hospitalists recognize the value of team interactions and interdisciplinary patient care, collaborate with specialists and referring physicians and implement quality initiatives to advance care.

The Division of Hospital Medicine's mission, based on the core values of teamwork, collegiality and service, is to provide excellence in inpatient care through the academic domains of clinical care, education and investigation; its vision is to achieve national prominence in the field of Hospital Medicine. Our academic structure is comprised of three domains: Innovation and Investigation, evidence-based Clinical Enterprises and Knowledge and Promotion.

Questions about the division or the services it can provide should be directed to the interim division head of Hospital Medicine, Ann Sheehy, MD at (608) 262-2434 or HospitalMedicine@medicine.wisc.edu.

Our Services

Acute Care Hospitalist Medicine Service:

We have two daytime faculty devoted to caring for medical patients at the UW Hospital and Clinics. This includes the oversight of the Medical Intermediate Care Unit and the care of patients requiring prolonged ventilatory support. We work with a multidisciplinary team of care providers to provide high-quality care that coordinates closely with the patient’s primary care provider.

General Medicine Consult Service:

This service includes one hospitalist and one senior resident providing consultative and co-mangement care at the UW Hospital and Clinics. We work closely with surgical services to perform preoperative evaluations and to prevent and treat postoperative complications.

Nocturnist Service:

Our dedicated nocturnists allow us to provide 24 hour, 7 day-a-week in-house coverage that supports our acute care and consultative services. We also provide in-house coverage to several medical subspecialty services and serve in a supporting role for on-call residents.

Inpatient General Medicine Ward Service:

Our hospitalists attend on the general medical ward, working with residents and medical students on our teaching service. We currently staff approximately one third of the inpatient teaching services.

Select Specialty Hospital:

Some of our hospitalists care for patients at Select Specialty Hospital, a long-term acute care hospital located in Madison. The hospital provides long-term acute care for patients with complex medical conditions including ventilator-dependent pulmonary conditions, renal failure, cardiac conditions, and wound care.

Improving Clinical Care:

We work closely with the UW Hospital and Clinics to assist with quality improvement projects. Most of our hospitalists are active on a variety of hospital committees. Current active projects include initiatives aimed at patient satisfaction, DVT prophylaxis, order set development, and reducing hospital-acquired urinary tract infections.

Educational Roles:

In addition to attending on the inpatient general medical ward, our hospitalists have developed a hospitalist elective for residents and students, and maintain the general medicine consult curriculum.

Patient referrals

If you are physician who would like to talk with a hospitalist to refer a patient for admission to UW Hospital and Clinics, please contact the access center at one of the following phone numbers.

Toll Free: 800-472-0111
Local: 608-263-3260