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Outpatient medicine has become increasingly complex. Advances in medical technology have made it possible for outpatient settings to offer more and more services. A residual effect of this is the changing face of inpatient medicine. Fewer patients are hospitalized today, and those who are often have multiple comorbidities. For many primary care physicians (PCP), the above factors, coupled with declining reimbursement, have caused them to reexamine how they structure their practices, where to prioritize their time and resources, and how to best care for their patient populations. For an increasing number of PCPs, hospitalists address these issues.