reply to the student post below.
Outpatient care has become a more common in hospitals in the last few decades. In general terms outpatient care is defined as “any health services that do not require an overnight stay in a health care institution” (Shi, Singh, 2019, p.155). Outpatient care services are often done in surgery centers, oncology treatment centers, primary care clinics, and specialty clinics (Hart, 2019). It is important to note that while most payers agree with the standard definition of outpatient care Medicare has been attempting to redefine outpatient care with the creation of an intermediate level of care referred to as “observation care” that they are classifying as outpatient care for patients that are not going to need to be hospitalized for more than 2 days. It is not clear yet whether Medicare will be successful with redefining of outpatient care.
Changes Causing Shifting Balance Between Inpatient and Outpatient Care
Outpatient care has been around since the beginning of health care. Looking back although not referred to as such a Doctor coming to treat patients at theirs homes would be considered outpatient care. There have been changes that have shifted outpatient care for being done primarily private groups to having health facilities offer the care as well. One of the changes is the rising awareness infections that are received in health care settings. While we would all want to believe that health facilities such as hospitals are the cleanest places that is not the case as the germs of the patients, staff, and visitors are all present.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that every day 1 in 25 hospitalized patients will develop an HAI (health care-associated infections). Primarily in the form of a urinary tract or surgical site infection, pneumonia sepsis or Clostridium difficile colitis (Hart, 2019, p.2).
Due to the fact patients spend less time in the facility or clinic when receiving outpatient care their exposure risk is less than those who need inpatient care. HAI is one of the things medical providers have to consider when they decide when to discharge patients from inpatient care.
A second change that has caused a rise in outpatient care is the push payers have put on outpatient care. Insurance companies know that outpatient care cost less than inpatient and as such are more likely to approve outpatient services versus inpatient treatments. Depending on the insurance and the medical condition insurances may require patients to try outpatient care before they will pay for inpatient care. An example of the insurance encouraging patients in an outpatient direction is the expansion of free standing ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs). “Because ASCs perform surgeries that do not involve overnight stays, they can provide many of the same services as hospital outpatient departments at a lower cost” (Carey, 2015, p. 2).
Outpatient Care Supporting Continuing Care in Community
Since outpatient care does not require patients to stay the night they are able to treat more patients in a day which makes it easier to get in for care. Outpatient care often takes less time which makes it so patients can work the care into their schedule. Outpatient services go along with the command God gives us in 1 Corinthians 6:19-20. “Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are no your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19-20, English Standard Version). As Christians we are not simply given the advice to take care of our bodies but we are commanded to and outpatient makes the care more convenient and gives us less excuse when we do not seek care for a medical problem.
Importance of Outpatient Care to Hospital Administrators
It is important for hospital administrators to view outpatient care as a key component to the hospital’s success as it is the way of future. There are no signs that the advancement we have seen in outpatient care in the US is going anywhere and if the Administrators do not look at what services they can do in outpatient settings they will be left behind. On the bright side for Administrators offering outpatient services such as clinics and imaging allow them to tap into a groups of patients who would not receive care from the hospital if it was not for their outpatient options.