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Table 2 Descriptive characteristics of 65 comparative evaluations of hospitalist performancea

From: Do hospitalist physicians improve the quality of inpatient care delivery? A systematic review of process, efficiency and outcome measures

Study characteristics

Studies, n(%)b

Country of research

 

   Canada

2 (3.0)

   United States

63 (97.0)

Research design

 

   Randomized or quasi-randomized controlled trial

9 (13.8)

   Interrupted time series

1 (1.5)

   Prospective cohort

2 (3.1)

   Retrospective cohort

35 (53.8)

   Before and after

18 (27.7)

Patient eligibility

 

   Adult patients only

25 (38.5)

   Paediatric patients only

10 (15.4)

   Older adult patients only (age ≥65 years)

3 (4.6)

   Medicare/Medicaid enrolment

3 (4.6)

   HMO/VA enrolment

5 (7.7)

Diagnostic/disease eligibility

 

   Asthma/bronchiolitis

3 (4.6)

   Chest pain

6 (9.2)

   Cancer/haematology

2 (3.1)

   Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

4 (6.2)

   Community-acquired or bacterial pneumonia

14 (21.5)

   Gastrointestinal/digestive disorders

8 (12.3)

   Heart failure

9 (13.8)

   Human immunodeficiency virus

1 (1.5)

   Hypovolemia/dehydration

2 (3.1)

   Myocardial infarction

2 (3.1)

   Nutritional/metabolic disorders

4 (6.2)

   Orthopaedic and other surgical procedures

9 (13.8)

   Psychiatric illness/substance dependency

2 (3.1)

   Stroke

4 (6.2)

   Trauma

2 (3.1)

   Urinary tract infection

4 (6.2)

   Viral illness

2 (3.1)

Hospital type

 

   Teaching hospital

54 (83.1)

   Community/rural hospital

11 (16.9)

Location of care

 

   General medical/surgical service

60 (92.3)

   Chest pain observation unit

2 (3.1)

   Intensive care unit

1 (1.5)

   Medical short-stay observation unit

1 (1.5)

   Psychiatric unit

1 (1.5)

Hospitalist practice structureb

 

   Private hospitalists

22 (33.8)

   Nonacademic faculty hospitalists

26 (40.0)

   Academic hospitalist attending physicians

33 (47.7)

Mix of practice structures

 

Comparative practice structureb

 

   Community-based physicians

34 (52.3)

   Traditional academic attending physicians

41 (63.1)

  1. aHMO, health maintenance organization; VA, Veterans Affairs; bpercentages may not sum to 100 due to rounding; cnumber of articles may not sum to 65 as several studies compared more than one physician structure.