NORTH HOLLYWOOD, Calif., Jan. 3 /PRNewswire/ -- IPC, the nation's premier hospitalist company, has expanded its practice into North Carolina and has begun caring for hospitalized patients at Union Regional Medical Center (URMC), a 247-bed facility affiliated with the Carolinas Healthcare System.
North Carolina marks the 13th market in the country to be directly served by IPC physicians. These hospitalists work in close consultation with the primary care physician and appropriate specialists to manage a patient's entire hospital experience, from time of admission until discharge. As the fastest-growing medical specialty in the country, hospitalists have been shown to increase the quality of care and reduce healthcare costs while providing patients the added comfort and security of having a physician on-site to oversee care, answer questions and ensure the smooth coordination of all hospital services.
Under its agreement with URMC, IPC has established a hospitalist program on-site and will ultimately take referrals from primary care physicians in the community as well as be responsible for unassigned emergency room admissions. Lead physician for IPC is Manjusha Gupte, M.D., with additional hospitalists presently being recruited to support this effort. Board certified in internal medicine, Dr. Gupte has both private-practice and hospitalist experience in Illinois and Charlotte. She attended medical school at the University of Missouri in Columbia and completed her residency at Washington University.
"IPC brings to our hospital, our patients and our physicians a deep experience in inpatient medicine, which we believe will lead to more patient-focused care and increased operational efficiencies," said John Roberts, chief executive officer of URMC. "Hospitalists are rapidly emerging as the true drivers of inpatient medicine, and IPC has shown over the years an ability to work extremely well with local hospital teams in improving the overall delivery of care."
Located about 40 minutes southeast of Charlotte in Monroe, URMC is the primary healthcare provider for Union County and the surrounding region. The hospital provides a full range of medical services including dedicated treatment centers for cardiology, cancer, rehabilitation and women's health. The hospital was recently named as one of "America's Hospital of Choices" by the American Alliance of Healthcare Providers. This prestigious award, given to only 36 hospitals nationwide, honors Union Regional for its exceptional customer and patient satisfaction efforts. URMC has also received a Four Star Inpatient Satisfaction Award from Professional Research Consultants, Incorporated. Along with Carolinas Healthcare System, URMC is recognized by the American Hospital Association as one of the top 100 "most wired" hospitals. For more information about URMC, visit http://www.unionregional.org/.
Founded in 1995, IPC employs approximately 300 physicians nationwide and manages more than $1 billion in healthcare expenditures annually. In addition to North Carolina, IPC has practice locations in California's Bay Area, Chicago, Dallas, Denver, Fort Worth, Houston, Las Vegas, Oklahoma City, Phoenix, San Antonio, St. Louis and Tucson. The company also has a consulting
services division that helps hospitals and other healthcare organizations launch new hospitalist programs or enhance existing ones. Information on IPC may be obtained at http://www.hospitalist.com/.
IPC-The Hospitalist CompanyCONTACT: Ross Goldberg, +1-818-597-8453, for IPC-The HospitalistCompany
Web site: http://www.unionregional.org/
Web site: http://www.hospitalist.com/
