Monday 16 December 2013

Why Ambulatory Services Are Increasing In Popularity

By Cornelia White


Medical institutions all over the world offer their treatment and care on either inpatient or outpatient basis. Those patients who need to be taken care of while in the hospital wards as a result of their conditions which is usually chronic are usually referred to as inpatients. Outpatients are taken care of through ambulatory services which target to offer treatment to patients at their comfort zones.

Such services are normally available for both the adults and children and will depend on several factors the most important being the nature of medical complication and general health status. Medical facilities are now setting aside special clinics for this purpose with all the departments and specialties including rehabilitation, rheumatology, neurology and gynecology among others.

The modern approach involves assigning a specific nurse to each of the patient on their first visit. That primary nurse is in charge of the whole recovery process of a patient. He/she coordinates the treatment plan of a patient, visiting time, stores and updates all the patient records and liaises with the medical professionals who are to treat the patient. It is this nurse who will be answering most of the questions that the patient may ask and guide the patient throughout the treatment process.

Ambulatory services are usually provided through a multidisciplinary team approach where different highly skilled doctors, nurses, social workers, both physical and occupational therapists among others combine their efforts for the well being of the patient. This ensures that a patient only gets the best from a highly professional and experienced team. The primary nurse is always in contact with the patient when out of the hospital for any query or emergency.

With the popularity ambulatory services, insurance companies are readily offering covers in this area. Many employee benefits also include medical covers in this category, the result of which has seen these programs offered in highly subsidized costs particularly depending on the type of cover. In fact, the determinant of whether treatment is to be through in patient or outpatient process is normally the existing medical condition and the insurance cover.

Other than emergency cases involving extreme cases and highly specialized surgeries, a number of treatments are now provided under the outpatient basis with the patient only required to report for checkups on periodic basis. Some treatments provided on this basis include physical rehabilitation, orthotic services, chronic back pain management, wound healing, osteoporosis, orthopedics, rheumatology, genetic disorders and scoliosis among many others.

The success of this procedure however lies in the ability of the medical personnel to coordinated proper monitoring and treatment plan. Majority of major health institutions are now dedicating their budget and staff to this clinics are they are considered to be more cost effective and allows for faster expansion of the medical institution. Hospitals for instances are now setting up clinics in close proximity to their patient residences for much quicker and easier access in addition to frequent visits conducted by their doctors to regional offices all to promote outpatient services.

The bottom line is that ambulatory services are the preferred alternative as they cut operational costs, reduces congestion in hospitals while at the same time increases revenues for the medical institutions.




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