Pediatric Hospital Medicine: Where We Are, Where We Are Headed: State of the Specialty, Looking Forward

Abstract

Although pediatric hospital medicine (PHM) is in its adolescence, it is already having a major impact on patient care, quality, safety, and education. Pediatric hospitalists have been front-and-center in the safety and quality movement, driving change as clinicians, applying evidence-based medicine to standardize practice and promulgate evidence-based guidelines, and playing a central role in optimizing the function of inter-professional teams. Pediatric hospitalists have championed the importance of patient-and family-centeredness of care and the need to incorporate principles of health literacy into all aspects of clinical care and research. Beyond delivering care, pediatric hospitalists have prominent roles as hospital leaders, educators, and researchers and have played a critical role in promoting improvements in health and health care outcomes. In its continued evolution, clinical care will undoubtedly remain the major focus, though with subspecialty status, the field will be expected to accelerate innovations in systems-based practice, advance clinical learning environments, and drive further improvements in quality of care.

Keywords: Health care quality; Inpatient care; Pediatric hospital medicine.