Korean J Intern Med. 2023 Apr 11. doi: 10.3904/kjim.2022.284. Online ahead of print.
ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND/AIMS: Although a management fee for hospitalist service was established in Korea, the number of hospitalists required for the system to run remains outmatched.
METHODS: In January 2020 and February 2022, before and after the establishment of the hospitalist fee system respectively, cross-sectional online surveys were conducted among internal medicine board-certified hospitalists.
RESULTS: There were 59 and 64 respondents in the 2020 and 2022 surveys, respectively. The percentage of respondents who cited financial benefits as a motive for becoming a hospitalist was higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (34.4% vs. 10.2%; p = 0.001). The annual salary of respondents was also higher in the 2022 survey than in the 2020 survey (mean, 182.9 vs. 163.0 million in South Korean Won; p = 0.006). A total of 81.3% of the respondents were willing to continue a hospitalist career in the 2022 survey. In multivariate regression analysis, the possibility of being appointed as a professor was found to be an independent predictive factor of continuing a hospitalist career (odds ratio, 4.00; 95% confidence interval, 1.09-14.75; p = 0.037).
CONCLUSIONS: Since the establishment of the hospitalist fee system, monetary compensation has improved for hospitalists. The possibility of being appointed as a professor could predict long-term work as hospitalists.
PMID:37038263 | DOI:10.3904/kjim.2022.284