Hospitalists are medical providers who specialize in caring for patients during their hospital stay. They lead your treatment, work closely with nurses and specialists, and use the latest medical tools and practices to ensure safe, effective care. Hospitalists also help improve communication across your care team and teach the next generation of healthcare professionals.
Hospitalist Medicine at TGH
Hospitalists coordinate care for hospitalized patients, acting as the main point of contact for families and health care teams. We ensure clear communication and smooth transitions during and after the hospital stay. At academic health systems like Tampa General, hospitalists also serve as clinician-educators, caring for patients while teaching future healthcare providers.
Hospitalists by the Numbers*
- Hospitalists provide care for patients at the TGH Davis Islands campus, TGH Brooksville, TGH Spring Hill, and TGH Crystal River hospitals
- 200 Trained Providers (Doctors, Physicians’ Assistants)
- 280 Future Providers-in-Training (Residents and Medical Students)
- 65+ scientific publications from TGH Hospitalists in 2023-2024
*Source: 2024 Qlik Hospitalist Activity Dashboard
About Hospitalists
Hospital Medicine, a medical specialty dedicated to the delivery of comprehensive medical care to hospitalized patients, is an integral part of patient care at Tampa General Hospital and one of the fastest-growing specialties in healthcare today. We provide care 24 hours a day, seven days a week, for general medicine inpatient services and co-manage care with over 20 of our Institutes and Services, including Transplant, Oncology, Infectious Disease, and Neuroscience.
Hospitalists are trained in internal medicine, family medicine, pediatrics, or a combination of these fields. Just as primary care doctors coordinate care among specialists, imaging, lab tests, and other medical services while a patient is out in the community, a hospitalist performs these important functions for those patients who are receiving care in the acute care setting, such as the hospital.
Tampa General works together with over 200 hospitalists across our academic health system to improve clinical outcomes, reduce mortality rates, enhance care coordination across sub-specialties, and prevent hospital-acquired infections. We serve a diverse patient base and treat a broad range of issues, from typical community medical problems like influenza and skin infections to highly technical and advanced conditions, such as advanced heart failure and trauma patients.
As part of an academic health system working in partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, our team also plays an important part in the education of current and future physicians. We continually invest in the professional development of our faculty and staff and are dedicated to staying up to date on the evidence-based improvements for best practices.
Because we are involved in coordinating care across so many hospital departments and facilities, hospitalists play a key role in hospital operations by streamlining care delivery and improving efficiency across departments, and are central to advancing quality and safety.
Hospitalists are critical to Tampa General in its mission to become the safest and most innovative academic health system in America.
What We Do
In addition to working with patients, TGH hospitalists are actively involved in education and training, as well as spearheading hospital improvement initiatives, including:
- General Medical: Similar to a primary care physician in the external community, hospitalists coordinate care within the TGH academic health system, coordinating testing, treatment, and consults with specialists for in-patient care.
- Step-Down: Within the step-down unit (SDU), hospitalists provide an intermediate level of care between the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) and the general medical/surgical wards.
- Co-Management: Hospitalists coordinate care in a multi-disciplinary team, bringing in specialties as needed. Co-management aims to improve care quality, allow for specialization, and optimize patient outcomes.
- Consultation: Hospitalists will coordinate consultations with other experts within the medical system for our patients who need additional services, such as physical therapy or out-patient rehabilitation.
- Hospital at Home: TGH Hospital at Home combines in-home visits, virtual visits, and 24/7 remote monitoring to deliver care to eligible patients in their own homes. As a part of this program, TGH Hospitalists provide hospital-level care, monitoring patients remotely, and coordinating with onsite providers to assess patients' health.
- Rehab: Hospitalists also play a vital role in facilitating a smooth transition of care when our patients are discharged from the hospital, often coordinating with patients’ primary care providers. This work may also involve coordinating with home health agencies or other post-acute care facilities.
- Quality and Operations: Hospitalists are often involved in quality improvement initiatives within the hospital, aiming to enhance patient safety and optimize healthcare delivery. We study hospital operations to understand what is working well, and to identify opportunities for improvement. Using technology and data analytics approaches, Hospitalists work to improve patient outcomes, enhance hospital operations, and manage provider workload effectively.
Education: Faculty, Development & Scholarship
Hospitalists in academic health systems often wear two hats: we serve as the physician of record for medical inpatients, while also working as clinician-educators to teaching staff and medical students, offering hands-on clinical experience to the next generation of providers.
At TGH, we pride ourselves on our truly collaborative practice both at the bedside and in the classroom. Our providers attend weekly educational sessions where we engage with specialist colleagues and content experts to review practice-changing knowledge and skills.
In partnership with the USF Health Morsani College of Medicine, we deliver an annual Hospital Medicine Conference. Open to all hospital medicine practitioners in the Tampa Bay region, this conference showcases state-of-the-art advances and innovations at TGH.
Hospitalists are not just providers who care for patients in the hospital; we also help the hospital run efficiently and effectively. To advance the field of hospital medicine, provide high-quality care, and to continuously improve patient safety, our team is often at the forefront of analyzing care delivery and hospital processes.
By conducting research with scientific rigor, and sharing our learnings with the medical community, we strive to support colleagues nationwide through presentations at professional conferences. Our faculty hold leadership roles in several professional societies and are regularly invited speakers.
National award-winning educators curate an exceptional experience on the hospital wards and in the classroom.
Our hospitalists provide hands-on clinical experience to specialty graduate medical trainees, including over 130 internal medicine residents per year, including those going into pediatrics, anesthesia, neurology, dermatology, radiology, and other specialties. We also serve as preceptors for Advanced Practice Provider trainees.
Research Highlights
As part of our commitment to academic medicine, TGH Hospitalists have dedicated resources to engage in research through attending and presenting at national medical conferences, providing workshops, publishing scholarly articles, and conducting clinical trials.
Our role in providing comprehensive care to hospitalized patients uniquely positions us to identify opportunities for improvement, and to develop interventions for research. It is part of our job to continuously improve patient care and advance the field of hospital medicine.
Our team was actively involved in more than 65 scientific publications in 2023-2024. Important topics included using AI to improve patient care, ways to improve patient safety, optimizing the medical education journey, and the impact of hurricanes and other natural disasters on hospital medicine.
Selected Publications and National Presentations
- Shinn K, Henderson CS, Schenone AL, Goonewardena SN, Shore S, Murthy VL, Madamanchi C. Can ChatGPT answer patients' questions about nuclear stress tests and 18F-Flurodeoxyglucose PET for myocardial inflammation? Journal of Nuclear Cardiology. 2025 Apr 5:102174. doi: 10.1016/j.nuclcard.2025.102174.
- Peek E, Sanchez J, Weber J, Mai C, Balakrishnan M. Utilizing the Safety Huddle to Empower Residents as Safety Stewards (USHERSS). Journal of Graduate Medical Education. 2024 Jun;16(3):355-356. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-23-00746.1.
- Money DB, Mehio M, Scoma C, Gupta S. Cardiac Point-of-Care Ultrasound (P.O.C.U.S.) Utilization for Hospitalists in the Assessment of Patients with Cardiac Complaints: An Educational Overview. Journal of Community Hosp Intern Medicine Perspective. 2023 Jun 29;13(4):1-8. doi: 10.55729/2000-9666.1217.
- Anees A, McAlister EG, Garber AM, Calderon AS, Butler J, Mallin E, Levine D, Sanders ML, Kwan B, Clewing JM, Barczi S, Mateja C, Ismail N. Bridging the Gap in Competency Assessment During Transition from Undergraduate Medical Education to Graduate Medical Education: A Perspective Piece. American Journal of Medicine. 2023 Sep;136(9):941-945.e1. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2023.06.001.
- O'Brien KE, Ledford R, DeWaay D, Klocksieben F, Kisielewski M, Burger A, LaRochelle J. Exploring Institutional Practices to Develop Faculty Evaluators: Results from the 2016 Clerkship Directors in Internal Medicine National Survey. Journal of General Internal Medicine. 2019 Nov;34(11):2305-2306. doi: 10.1007/s11606-019-05130-3.
- Ovitsh RK, Gupta S, Kusnoor A, Jackson JM, Roussel D, Mooney CJ, Pinto-Powell R, Appel JL, Mhaskar R, Gold J. Minding the gap: towards a shared clinical reasoning lexicon across the pre-clerkship/clerkship transition. Medical Education Online. 2024 Dec 31;29(1):2307715. doi: 10.1080/10872981.2024.2307715.
- Marcus EN, Mai C, Brown S, Littles A, St Onge JE. Residency Program Planning for Hurricanes and Beyond: Lessons Learned From 3 Florida Institutions. Journal of Graduate Medical Education. 2024 Dec;16(6 Suppl):15-18. doi: 10.4300/JGME-D-23-00923.1.
Upcoming Events
Join us at our third annual USF/TGH Hospital Medicine Conference on Thursday March 5th 2026! This year, we're offering:
- Workshops in POCUS and Quality Improvement skills
- Updates in clinical medicine
- Poster presentations of clinical vignettes, quality improvement and research
Learn more about the event and register here.
Past Events
TGH Second Annual Hospital Medicine Conference
On National Hospitalist Day, March 6th, 2025, Tampa General hosted hospitalists from around the region to discuss the latest updates in clinical medicine, comprehensive skill development sessions, and meaningful networking opportunities.
SHM Converge
Tampa General Hospital was proudly represented at this year’s SHM Converge with a strong and enthusiastic contingent. Our faculty and trainees presented a range of posters that highlighted innovative quality improvement initiatives and complex clinical cases. Several of our faculty members led high-impact talks and interactive workshops, contributing to the national conversation on advancing hospital medicine. It was inspiring to see the breadth and depth of TGH’s presence at this premier event.
Awards
Our team has earned recognition for contributions to Hospitalist medicine on a global scale. Recent awards include:
- Dr. Anh Phu Nguyen, TGH 2023 Physician of the Year
- Dr. Kellee Oller, GME Program Director of the Year
- Dr. Jennifer Caputo-Seidler, Vot-ER Healthy Democracy Campaign Individual MVP 2025
- Dr. Elimarys Perez-Colon, MPPDA Brenden P. Kelly, MD, Award