University of Florida Medicine - Hospital Medicine

Welcome from the Division Chief

Jeffrey G. House, D.O.
Division Chief

The formalized discipline of hospital medicine is fairly new to the medical world. First, officially described as "hospitalists" in 1996, it has evolved partly out of necessity to meet duty hour requirements for housestaff and partly to provide an in-hospital extension service for community physicians. Today it is the fastest growing subspecialty in internal medicine and is expected to exceed the subspecialty of cardiology, in size, by the year 2010.

The physicians of the UF Division of Hospital Medicine, provide a continuum of in-patient care, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at Shands Jacksonville Medical Center. While specialists may come and go as they are needed, the hospitalist tracks the patient's care from soon after check-in, until they are released. The hospitalist brings together medical details like lab results and procedure outcomes from specialists in order to track and provide the patient with the best overall care possible.

The hospitalist also provides a valuable service to community physicians who, in the past, would visit their patients during their hospital stay, but in recent years many are unable to accomplish this on a regular basis and may become out of touch with their patients' status. The hospitalist becomes an extension for the community physician and keeps the patient's community physician updated and visits the patient during his or her hospital stay for the community physician.

Please explore this site for further details on the division. If you are a community physician and would like to create a partnership with our hospitalists or if you have any questions about our division, feel free to contact us.

Jeffrey G. House, D.O., F.A.C.P.
Assistant Professor and Division Chief