There are several types of hospitals, they can be private, governmental, federal, public, or non-profit. “hospitals provide services to individuals who requirse treatment for several hours. Hospitals are utilized for either diagnostic or therapeutic (Gapenski & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2013, pg. 3-25).” Along with this accreditation is provided by the Joint Commission and regulated by Department of Health and Hospitals.
Ambulatory Care is typical services rendered where patients do not have to be admitted or institutionalized to receive services. This type of program is noted as “outpatient” care. (Gapenski & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2013, pg. 3-25) Services rendered under outpatient care/ambulatory care are listed but not limited to laboratory services, emergency departments, primary care, or outpatient/day surgery.
Home Health Care are services utilized by patients that require care within the home following an illness or injury in which a physician ordered follow-up care outside of a hospital or ambulatory care center. This service assists patients in becoming self-sufficient while regaining one’s independence. Some of the services provided include wound care, patient/caregiver education, home monitoring following serious illness, nutrition, or intravenous therapy. (Medicare.gov, 2014)
Long Term Care as stated in (Gapenski & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2013, pg. 3-25), “long term care services assist those patients that lack a degree of functionality. This assists with Activities of Daily Living (ADL) such as eating, bathing, and toileting, ambulation, and medicine administration/reminders.” The focus of long-term care focuses on mental health, rehabilitation, as well as nursing home care. A major section of long-term care is nursing home care. The levels of nursing home care encompass skilled nursing, intermediate care, and residential care.
As we review all healthcare settings, we touch on the structure of Integrated Delivery Systems which according to (Gapenski & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2013, pg. 3-25), “describes it to be the bases for organizations to have the ability to assume full clinical responsibility for patient care as a whole. Its role is to minimize the provision of unnecessary services that may eventually become costly to patients and facilities.” In doing so the integrated system will provide all required services to patients within the lowest cost setting possible. These services rely on primary care services, prevention services, early intervention, as well as wellness programs. Providing quality, cost efficient patient satisfaction is of the utmost importance.
There are numerous benefits of the Integrated Delivery System such as being a “one stop shop” for all patient care services, linking providers such as primary care physicians to orthopedic physicians or physical therapists. Other beneficial aspects are patient networks that handle cost of services by having cost effective services within the system and the overall ability to track the steps of patient care (physicians > pharmacists > surgeons > occupational therapy > rehabilitation services) All of these benefits encourage providers to work together for the purpose of patient continuity of care. (Gapenski & Association of University Programs in Health Administration, 2013, pg. 3-25)
Even when services are best fitting for patients, there is bound to be challenges/drawbacks. Within the system, the healthcare providers role and degrees of authority have changed along with the fact the immediacy of access to healthcare has been drastically reduced. The provider’s freedom of choice has also been restricted to some degree. With these challenges occurring, it has resulted in new avenues for litigation and potential errors. One of the main challenges of the Integrated Delivery System is its ability to implement an integrated risk management plan in doing so the assigned risk manager must have the authority to effect change with the full support of the board members. (International Risk Management Institute (IRMI), 2009)
References
Gapenski, L. C., & Association of University Programs in Health Administration. (2013). Chapter 1: Introduction to Healthcare Finance. In Fundamentals of healthcare finance [Vital Source] (2nd ed., pp. 3-25). Retrieved from https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781567935714/cfi/0
Gapenski, L. C., & Association of University Programs in Health Administration. (2013). Chapter 2: Healthcare Business Basics. In Fundamentals of healthcare finance [Vital Source] (2nd ed., pp. 26-53). Retrieved from https://kaplan.vitalsource.com/#/books/9781567935714/cfi/0
International Risk Management Institute (IRMI). (2009, May 26). Integrated Delivery System’s Challenges | IRMI.com. Retrieved from http://www.irmi.com/articles/expert-commentary/integrated-healthcare-delivery-systems-challenges
Medicare.Gov. (2014, December 5). Home Health Care Services. Retrieved from http://www.medicare.gov/home-health-care-services
