Austin Regional Clinic has designated a group of Internal Medicine doctors as our in-hospital on-call group. Comprised of Drs. Robert Seiler, Debra Dollar, and Eric Leong, these three physicians are dedicated to taking care of ARC patients who are admitted to the local hospitals. They do not have outpatient office hours. This hospital care arrangement is modeled after similar programs developed by other large medical groups around the country.
The on-call doctors are responsible for all admissions of ARC patients and will see patients at Seton Hospitals that do not have a primary care physician. The doctors generally will follow the patients admitted until discharge.
Begun as a cooperative effort with Seton Hospitals, this program has become a successful community service.
“Being in the hospital allows us to admit and treat the more serious patients more quickly. This program is a rewarding one,” states Eric Leong, MD.
Dr. Debra Dollar indicated that she sees the value in that “patients who are not established with a doctor receive high-quality care in the hospital and also are directed to appropriate doctors for outpatient follow-up care. This program also exposes patients to the quality of care ARC doctors are known for.”
One of the advantages to this type of program, Dr. Robert Seiler states, is that “it allows the outpatient-based internists with ARC to spend more time with their patients in the office.