Survey of academic pediatric hospitalist programs in the US: organizational, administrative, and financial factors.

Background: Many pediatric academic centers have hospital medicine programs. Anecdotal data suggest that variability exists in program structure.

Objective: To provide a description of the organizational, administrative, and financial structures of academic pediatric hospital medicine (PHM).

Methods: This online survey focused on the organizational, administrative, and financial aspects of academic PHM programs, which were defined as hospitalist programs at US institutions associated with accredited pediatric residency program (n = 246) and identified using the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME) Fellowship and Residency Electronic Interactive Database. PHM directors and/or residency directors were targeted by both mail and the American Academy of Pediatrics Section on Hospital Medicine LISTSERV.

Results: The overall response rate was 48.8% (120/246). 81.7% (98/120) of hospitals reported having an academic PHM program, and 9.1% (2/22) of hospitals without a program reported plans to start a program in the next 3 years. Over a quarter of programs provide coverage at multiple sites. Variability was identified in many program factors, including hospitalist workload and in-house coverage provided. Respondents reported planning increased in-house hospitalist coverage coinciding with the 2011 ACGME work-hour restrictions. Few programs reported having revenues greater than expenses (26% single site, 4% multiple site).

Conclusions: PHM programs exist in the majority of academic centers, and there appears to be variability in many program factors. This study provides the most comprehensive data on academic PHM programs and can be used for benchmarking as well as program development.