https://paulnystrom.com/tags/hospitalist/Recent content in Hospitalist on Paul NystromHugoen-usWed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-admit-game/Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-admit-game/<p>At times in my career, my job has become less about actually practicing medicine—especially at a small rural hospital. Instead of seeing patients, I often feel like the quarterback of the transfer game. This is not unique to my hospital or health system. Across the country, providers are doing the same thing on literally every shift. Even at medium-sized hospitals that lack certain specialties, a great deal of patient transferring still occurs. This is simply how the game is played.</p>https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-transfer-game/Wed, 25 Mar 2026 00:00:00 +0000https://paulnystrom.com/posts/the-transfer-game/<p>If my hospitalist isn’t comfortable keeping the patient or we have no beds or no nurses available to care for them, I start calling larger hospitals that are closest to mine. The main campus of the same health system as my hospital is about an hour away and has essentially all the specialties I could need. They can handle nearly any complicated medical or trauma patient. However, they’re across a state line, which sometimes creates additional challenges.</p>