There's a Doctor in the House
Hospitalists Provide Round-the-Clock Care

Thanks to an important new program, many patients hospitalized at Lakewood Ranch Medical Center (LWRMC) receive care from a relatively new type of physician specialist, called a hospitalist. Hospitalists are internal medicine physicians who specialize in caring for hospitalized patients.

Carmen Coiscou, MD, board-certified internal medicine physician at LWRMC and a member of IPC The Hospitalist Company, is now available to provide hospitalist services at primary care physicians' (PCPs') request or when patients do not have a personal physician.

"I don't have a demanding outpatient practice that requires me to see patients in a private office," Dr. Coiscou says. "Instead, I'm here to support local PCPs by temporarily handling the care of their patients while those patients are hospitalized."

	Carmen Coiscou, MD, a board-certified internal medicine physician at LWRMC.
	Teresa Rawe, DO Lakewood Ranch Emergency Medicine 8330 Lakewood Ranch Blvd. Bradenton, FL 34202 941-782-2200

Some of the services Dr. Coiscou provides include:

• Admitting patients.
• Examining patients daily.
• Ordering tests.
• Prescribing medication.
• Arranging for consultations with other specialists.
• Staying in contact with the nurses providing bedside care.
• Responding quickly to urgent or emergency situations.

"Patients often feel overwhelmed when they're hospitalized," Dr. Coiscou says. "I can help ease patients' stress because I'm there to monitor and coordinate their care and make sure they get the services they need when they need them."

Most patients admitted to LWRMC start off in the emergency room (ER) so Dr. Coiscou works closely with ER staff.

"We have an excellent working relationship with Dr. Coiscou," says Teresa Rawe, DO, Medical Director of Emergency Services at LWRMC. "She's a highly trained physician who is able to medically manage any patients who require admission to the hospital. It is important to the ER that we are able to move patients through the department efficiently and expeditiously, so that those who need to be hospitalized get the care they need quickly, and other ER patients don't have long waits for treatment rooms."

Dr. Coiscou, who is fluent in Spanish, keeps PCPs informed about their patients' status throughout their hospital stays and provides PCPs with discharge summaries when their patients leave the hospital.

More and more, hospitals and PCPs across the nation are relying on hospitalists to expedite and streamline hospital care.

To find out more about the hospitalist program at LWRMC, please call 813-936-5000.

206 Second Street East, Bradenton, FL 34208 941-746-5111 FAX: 941-745-6862