Dr. Matthew Bergstedt received his medical degree from LSU Health Sciences Center in New Orleans in 2010. He went on to complete his internship and residency at Ochsner. Dr. Matthew Bergstedt is board certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine and has been on staff at Ochsner since 2013. Upon joining the Department of Hospital Medicine he helped pilot the creation of an afternoon/evening Swing shift to assist in the timely admission of patients coming to the hospital later in the day when less staff were available to accommodate them. As the Ochsner system has rapidly grown since 2005 and expanded from a single hospital into the largest health system in the Gulf South the volume of patients coming to Main Campus has steadily increased, necessitating an overhaul of the admissions system, which Dr. Bergstedt helped redesign. Another necessity of Ochsners growth into a regional hospital network was the need for a dedicated hospitalist to oversee, triage, and manage transfers within our expanding network in order to improve efficiency and safety, so Dr. Bergstedt also helped pilot the PILOT (Physician In Lead of Transfers) role at Ochsners Regional Referral Center. He has a special clinical interest in Sickle Cell Disorders and soon after joining the clinical staff at Ochsner formed a task force for collaboration between Hospital Medicine, Emergency Medicine, and Hematology/Oncology to improve care delivery to patients with Sickle Cell Disorders, who often face significant barriers in accessing the treatment they need in the acute care setting. This collaboration resulted in the development of a day hospital-style model of symptom management for early outpatient intervention of vaso-occlusive crises, in which patients beginning to have symptoms beyond their ability to control at home can contact their hematologists office who then places orders for the patient to go to a nearby infusion center and receive IV fluids and pain medications to break the cycle before the crisis becomes fully established. After implementing this model, Emergency Department presentations and hospitalizations for vaso-occlusive crisis dropped dramatically. Dr. Bergstedt continues to advocate for Sickle Cell patients as well as other patients with chronic disease processes presenting with periodic relapsing physical symptoms as well as stressing mindfulness of the ways that socioeconomic, cultural, and racial disparities in healthcare access and delivery interact with disease processes like these as well as many other health conditions. Other clinical interests include perioperative consultative medicine, heart failure management, and palliative care. He is a passionate educator, and delights in having a small hand in shaping the future of medicine through teaching residents, interns, and medical students.

Medical Education

Louisiana State University School of Medicine in New Orleans

Residency

Ochsner Clinic Foundation - GME Office
Field of Study: Internal Medicine