An increasing number of surgery patients are being co-managed by a surgeon and another clinician, such as a hospitalist or internal medicine subspecialist, according to a study in the Archives of Internal Medicine.
Co-management by generalist physicians rose by 11.4 percent each year from 2001-2006, and all of that growth was attributed to hospitalists.
Patients more likely to be co-managed were older, with more co-occurring illnesses and in hospitals that were mid-sized, non-teaching or for-profit.
Read the Archives of Internal Medicine's study on surgery patients.