Pediatric Hospital Medicine: Our Impact
Under the direction of Vineeta Mittal, M.D., MBA, the Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine plays a crucial role in caring for hospitalized children at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.
The term "hospitalist" gained national attention in 1996 from Wachter and Goldman in a New England Journal of Medicine article. Over the past decade, the number of hospitalists and hospitals using hospitalists has grown rapidly as hospital medicine has become one of the fastest-growing specialties in pediatrics.
The Division of Pediatric Hospital Medicine also experienced rapid growth. Beginning as a single service line in 2002, this program now includes 55 faculty members covering up to 12 service lines at Children’s Health℠.
Leading the Way in Pediatric Hospital Medicine
- Leaders in medical education, clinical operations, quality and safety, and specialized programs: Faculty members play key roles in residency leadership, medical student clerkships, utilization management, clinical operations, specialized units such as the observation unit and intermediate care unit, and quality improvement initiatives.
- Rapidly expanding division and fellowship program: Pediatric hospital medicine is the fastest-growing pediatric specialty recognized by the American Board of Pediatrics. Our ACGME-accredited fellowship has expanded to four fellows per year, with a 100% peer-reviewed publication rate and more than 50 faculty.
- Innovative clinical programs: We lead the development of specialized care models, including our pioneering observation unit and intermediate care unit.
2024 Impact
- By the Numbers
By the Numbers
Faculty
- 55 faculty
Clinical
- 1 clinical site
- 34,003 inpatient encounters
- 96-108 patients/day
- LOS: 5.2 days (inpatient)
- LOS: 1.2 days (observation)
Education
- 240 medical students
- 25 sub-interns
- 100+ residents
- 8 fellows
- Honors and Awards
Honors and Awards
Dr. Katherine Johnson
- Nominated for the UTSW Program Development Award for Developing Physician Advisor, Utilization Management Program
Dr. Lasya Challa
- Nominated for UTSW GME Program Director, Rising Star Award
Drs. Harita Liter and Aishwarya Devarakonda
- Received teaching award by 2025 PHM fellows
- Top Conference Presentation Locations
Top Conference Presentation Locations
- Pediatric Academic Societies (PAS) meeting
- Annual Pediatric Hospital Medicine (PHM) Conference
- Annual PHM Fellows Conference
- Annual Pediatric Fellowship Program Directors meeting
- Association of Pediatric Program Directors (APPD) meeting
- Top Peer-Reviewed Publications and Book Chapters
Top Peer-Reviewed Publications and Book Chapters
Arar S, Hall M, Johnson K, Katragadda H, Martinez K, Dadwani A, Chen CN, Devarakonda A, Gribbons M, Challa L, Gupta AT, Patel A, Solomon C, Nunneley CE, Lee BC, Yu AG. Hospital costs and reimbursement for short-stay inpatient versus observation status hospitalizations for children with medical complexity. J Hosp Med. 2024 Nov;19(11):1010-1018. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13423. Epub 2024 Jun 5. PMID: 38840249.
Gupta A, Hall M, Masserano B, Wilson A, Johnson K, Chen C, Challa L, Katragadda H, Mittal V. Trends in resource utilization for new-onset psychosis hospitalizations at children's hospitals. J Hosp Med. 2025 Jul;20(7):710-726. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13597. Epub 2025 Feb 2. PMID: 39893566; PMCID: PMC12217426.
Shah NH, O'Toole J, Mittal V, Overholser B, Spector ND. Our moral imperative to rethink leadership: A call for modern leaders. J Hosp Med. 2025 Sep;20(9):1012-1014. doi: 10.1002/jhm.70010. Epub 2025 Feb 11. PMID: 39935042.
Bohorquez J, Patel AD, Borders R, Gorman A, Reynolds C, Ritchie K, Denson N, Solomon CM. Routine postclinical event debriefings on inpatient pediatric units. Hosp Pediatr. 2024 Aug 1;14(8):632-641. doi: 10.1542/hpeds.2023-007452. PMID: 38982950; PMCID: PMC11287061.
Merritt TA, Bhatia S, Solomon C, Yu A. Heat-related illness trends at a pediatric health care system, 2012 to 2023. Acad Pediatr. 2025 Aug;25(6):102855. doi: 10.1016/j.acap.2025.102855. Epub 2025 May 17. PMID: 40389201.