Doctors differ on growing practice of hospitalists.

Four years ago, Dr. Harold Selzman was running a thriving internal medicine practice.

But while his patient roster was continually expanding, Selzman began feeling less and less like a doctor and more and more like a technician.

Selzman, an internist with a subspecialty in nephrology, says a typical day at the office was spent treating patients who weren't very sick. Those who needed additional treatment were referred to specialists. Other parts of the day were spent calling pharmacies to order prescriptions and returning phone calls to patients.

On top of that, Selzman was being shut out of the hospital. Except for a few private pay patients, those ill …