From The NY Times: The Rise Of the Hospitalist

The New York Times chronicles the rise of the hospitalist and makes clear that there's more to it than simply hiring a bunch of new doctors;

"Even experts who were initially skeptical agree that the hospitalists’ skill set is timely. They are young and thus not entrenched in the current order (emphasis mine.) They enjoy working in teams, when older doctors tend to be hierarchical. And, like Dr. Airan-Javia, who has a 16-month-old baby, they appreciate the regular hours and a paycheck of, say, $190,000 — higher by $30,000 than community-based peers.

Dr. Airan-Javia says she made an inspired career choice. Forty percent of her time is spent on the floor, treating diseases and helping patients and families though complex life events, like deciding when it is time to suspend medical care and let life end. Sixty percent of the time she is designing systems to improve workflow and advising the hospital’s chief medical officer. At meetings with her fellow hospitalists, phrases seldom spoken by most doctors, like “cost-effective delivery of care,” and “preventable adverse events,” flow off everyone’s tongue: The language of health care reform."

Let's see.  Young and thus not entrenched in the current order...enjoys working in teams...designing systems to improve workflow...

A great recipe for improvement. But hire wisely.