Physicians Survey: Hospital Patient Loads at Unsafe Level

Hospitalists nationwide suggest daily workload may be adversely impacting the safety and quality of patient care.

Newswise — Nationwide, more than one-quarter of hospital-based general practitioners who take over for patients’ primary care doctors to manage inpatient care say their average patient load exceeds safe levels multiple times per month, according to a new Johns Hopkins study. Moreover, the study found that one in five of these physicians, known as hospitalists, reports that their workload puts patients at risk for serious complications, or even death.