Hospitalists in the United States--mission accomplished or work in progress?

Eight years ago in the Journal, a colleague and I described a new breed of physician — the “hospitalist” — whose primary role was to care for hospitalized patients, returning them to the care of their regular physicians at hospital discharge.1 Since that time, the number of hospitalists in the United States has grown from a few hundred to approximately 8000, with projected growth to 20,000 (about the number of cardiologists in this country). With hospitalists at most major U.S. teaching hospitals,2 students and residents (in both internal medicine and, increasingly, pediatrics) now receive much of their inpatient training . . .