Hospitalist physician vs attending physician

The differences between hospitalist physicians and attending physicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 2-4 years to become both a hospitalist physician and an attending physician. Additionally, a hospitalist physician has an average salary of $246,629, which is higher than the $200,702 average annual salary of an attending physician.

The top three skills for a hospitalist physician include patients, internal medicine and EMR. The most important skills for an attending physician are patients, primary care, and surgery.

Hospitalist physician vs attending physician overview

	Hospitalist Physician	Attending Physician
Yearly salary	$246,629	$200,702
Hourly rate	$118.57	$96.49
Growth rate	7%	7%
Number of jobs	40,597	53,195
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 33%
Average age	48	48
Years of experience	4	4

What does a hospitalist physician do?

A Hospitalist Physician is responsible for examining, diagnosing, and treating hospitalized patients. They supervise communication with hospitalized patients, family members, and nurses, as well as handle problems, emergencies, and changes in situations rapidly.

What does an attending physician do?

An Attending Physician typically supervises fellows, residents, medical students, and other practitioners. They are responsible for supervising each patient every day, reviewing treatment plans with residents, and supervising patient management documents.

Hospitalist physician vs attending physician salary

Hospitalist physicians and attending physicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Hospitalist Physician	Attending Physician
Average salary	$246,629	$200,702
Salary range	Between $167,000 And $362,000	Between $125,000 And $321,000
Highest paying City	Puyallup, WA	Miami, FL
Highest paying state	Alaska	New Jersey
Best paying company	Yuma Regional Medical Center	Community Health Systems
Best paying industry	Health Care	Health Care

Differences between hospitalist physician and attending physician education

There are a few differences between a hospitalist physician and an attending physician in terms of educational background:

	Hospitalist Physician	Attending Physician
Most common degree	Doctoral Degree, 30%	Bachelor's Degree, 33%
Most common major	Medicine	Medicine
Most common college	Stanford University	University of Michigan - Ann Arbor

Hospitalist physician vs attending physician demographics

Here are the differences between hospitalist physicians' and attending physicians' demographics:

	Hospitalist Physician	Attending Physician
Average age	48	48
Gender ratio	Male, 53.8% Female, 46.2%	Male, 36.5% Female, 63.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.5% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 5.2% Unknown, 4.5% Hispanic or Latino, 9.6% Asian, 19.1% White, 61.5% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%
LGBT Percentage	13%	13%

Differences between hospitalist physician and attending physician duties and responsibilities

Hospitalist physician example responsibilities.

Conduct vendor assessments with variety of EMR vendors to assure adherence with CMS standards.
Maintain CRM database of referring physicians, including their demographics, referral patterns and other relevant information.
Participate in a pilot program that utilize physician assistants to assist physicians with covering unassign patients on the hospital wards.
Perform EKG, monitoring & interpretation of EKG.
Coordinate with marketing, sales and CME departments to build cohesive community physician outreach program.
Organize and schedule physician to physician meetings, lunch and learn events, and CME programs.

Attending physician example responsibilities.

Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
Prepare patients for ultrasound guide injections and aspirations which includes draping patients, prepping medications and preparing sterile instruments.
Manage neurological cancer research protocols: collected/organize data, assure compliance with protocol guidelines, manage study database and enroll patients.
Monitor and manage patient medical records in compliance with HIPPA.

Hospitalist physician vs attending physician skills

Common hospitalist physician skills

Patients, 37%
Internal Medicine, 17%
EMR, 17%
Acls, 4%
Surgery, 4%
Emergency Medicine, 4%

Common attending physician skills

Patients, 35%
Primary Care, 8%
Surgery, 5%
Internal Medicine, 5%
BLS, 4%
Rehabilitation, 3%

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Hospitalist Physician
Hospitalist Physician vs Attending Physician

Updated January 8, 2025

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