On August 15, 1996 in the New England Journal of Medicine, R.M. Wachter and L. Goldman anticipated the rapid growth of a new group of physicians and coined the term “hospitalist”. These inpatient internal medicine specialists were dedicated to managing hospitalized patients [1]. Hospitalists are now defined as physicians whose primary professional focus includes clinical care, teaching, research and/or administration for hospitalized patients. In 1997 John Nelson and Wintrop Whitcomb founded the Society of Hospital Medicine.
