"Traditionally, inpatient care is managed by a general internist or medical resident. For inpatients, contact with doctors occurs during medical rounds; however, patients do not have round-the-clock access to their doctors, and patients who wish to meet with their attending physician usually find it difficult to reach them immediately. A doctor has limited time to spend with patients due to their busy schedules and heavy workloads. Even when ad hoc consultation does occur, the contact time is often insufficient, especially from the patients’ perspective and the hospital patient must wait to see a doctor.
The increasing aging population has increased the demand for geriatric care. Since elderly patients suffer from multiple diseases, they are admitted to the hospital for longer times and more often. Moreover, some diseases associated with aging require specialized care to prevent complications and adverse effects. The geriatric patient with multimorbidity is at risk of becoming a polypharmacy recipient. If the patient receives various drugs from doctors, some prescriptions may be for unnecessary drugs. Since the polypharmacy has become a public health issue, strategies to manage prescriptions among elderly patients should be implemented. It is essential to have a doctor in charge of patient care even after admission. During the hospital stay, communication between the patient, patient’s family, and the doctor could affect the health outcome, making communication a critical element in health quality and patient safety. Thus, having a doctor who can provide specialized care with an overview of healthcare would be beneficial to the patient."
