Hospitalists’ COVID-19 management roles in hospitals without infectious disease specialists

Figures & data

Figure 1. Flowchart of inclusion in the study.

Figure 2. Geographic distribution of hospitals that were included in the study.

Table 1. The baseline characteristics of hospitals with and without ID specialists.

	Without ID specialists(n = 80)	With ID specialists(n = 52) (n = 52)	P value
Men, n (%)	64(80)	43(83)	0.8
PGY of hospitalist n, (%)			0.005
3–5 years	28(35)	17(33)
6–10 years	29(36)	9(17)
10–20 years	19(24)	14(27)
21 years or above	4(5)	12(23)
Number of total hospitalists in the division, n (%)			0.005
0–9	37(46)	11(21)
10 or above	43(54)	41(79)
Number of inpatient beds that hospitalist division managed, n (%)			0.3
0–20	16(20)	12(23)
20–59	42(52.5)	20(38.5)
60 or above	22(27.5)	20(38.5)
Number of hospitalists participating in infection control team, n (%)	18(22)	11(21)	0.8
Population of the city where the hospital is located			0.2
0–300,000	27(34)	17(33)
300,000–1,000,000	19(24)	20(38)
1,000,000 or above	34(42)	15(29)
Number of hospital beds, n (%)			<0.001
0–249	25(31)	2(4)
250–500	44(55)	21(40)
500 or above	11(14)	29(56)
Number of ICU beds, n (%)			<0.001
0	30(37)	4(8)
1–5	19(24)	1(2)
6 or above	31(39)	33(90)
Number of patients by ambulance per year in the hospital, n (%)			＜0.001
0–2000	37(46)	10(19)
2000–4000	15(19)	7(14)
4000 or above	28(35)	35(67)
Pulmonary specialists in the hospital, n (%)	49(61)	48(92)	<0.001

Values are presented as number (%).

Abbreviations: PGY; Postgraduate years, ID; Infectious disease, ICU; Intensive care unit.

Table 2. Hospitalist work area related to COVID-19.

Hospitalist work area related to COVID-19, n (%)	Without ID specialists (n = 80)	With ID specialists (n = 52)	P value
COVID-19 inpatient management, n (%)	61 (76)	29 (56)	0.01
Outpatient clinic, n (%)	71 (89)	43 (83)	0.3
Emergency room management for febrile patients, (%)	72 (90)	38 (73)	0.01
COVID-19 ICU management, n (%)	17 (21)	9 (17)	0.6
Consultation management associated with COVID-19, n (%)	41 (51)	22 (42)	0.3
Developing guidelines for COVID-19 in the hospital, n (%)	28 (35)	16 (31)	0.6
Infection control management in the hospital, n (%)	49 (61)	30 (58)	0.7
Total number of work areas a hospitalist physician had. n (%)	4.0 (3,4,5,6)	3.5 (2,3,4,5)	0.05

Abbreviations: ID; Infectious disease, ICU; Intensive care unit.

*Physicians had more than one clinical role, the numbers do not add up to 100%.

Table 3. All funders and Odds Ratio and p value associated with hospitalist inpatient management of COVID-19.

Funders	OR (95% CI)	P value
Hospitalist-based founders
Men	1.3 (0.5–3.1)	0.6
PGY of hospitalist (9 or lower)	1.6 (0.8–3.5)	0.2
Total number of hospitalists in the division (10 or higher)	1.3 (0.6–2.7)	0.5
Number of inpatient beds that hospitalist division managed (60 or higher)	1.1 (0.5–2.3)	0.9
Hospitalists participating in infection control team	1.0 (0.4–2.3)	1.0
Hospital-based founders
Population of the city where the hospital is located (1 million or higher)	2.5 (1.0–5.0)	0.05
Number of hospital beds (250 or higher)	1.1 (0.4–2.8)	0.8
Absence of ICU bed in the hospital	1.4 (0.6–3.4)	0.4
Number of patients by ambulance per year (4000 or higher)	1.4 (0.5–2.1)	1.0
Absence of pulmonary specialists in the hospital	2.3 (0.9–5.7)	0.08
Absence of ID specialists in the hospital	2.5 (1.2–5.4)	0.01

Abbreviations: PGY; Postgraduate years, ICU; Intensive care unit, ID; Infectious disease.

Table 4. Divisions recognized as the frontline division in managing COVID-19 in the hospital.

	Without ID specialists(n = 80)	With ID specialists(n = 52)
Division, n (%)
Hospitalist	64(80)	18(35)
ID specialist	0(0)	26(50)
Pulmonary specialist	15(19)	7(13)
Emergency physician	1(1)	1(2)

Abbreviations: ID; Infectious disease.