Ambulatory care1 Running header: AMBULATORY FACILITIES VS HOSPITALS

Ambulatory care vs. hospitals Teena Anderson HIT100-0803A-04 Instructor Jennifer Winterpacht Colorado Technical University Online July 29, 2008

Ambulatory care vs. hospitals

Ambulatory care2 The big River Community Hospital board of trustees is hearing rumors that a rival hospital is thinking about opening a new clinic or hospital in the vicinity. Our board of trustees, not knowing much about the services an ambulatory facility or hospital offer, would like for me to do some research on both subjects and write a formal paper about it. To begin with, I believe our trustees need to know the difference between the ambulatory setting and the hospital setting. In the United States, there a seven different kinds of hospitals that are serving many different types of people. To the public, a typical hospital is one with an emergency room, which you use for serve injuries or after hour illnesses, or you go to have surgeries. This is in-patient care and is open 24/7. That is not the case in hospitals now days. With the different types of hospitals today, there is a wide variety of services each one will offer. Take a Veterans hospital, not everyone can use this facility. Granted, they will not turn you away if it is matter of life and death situation, however, the VA was set up for our military veterans. Our veterans have special needs that a regular hospital may not be able to address. A VA hospital does not offer a maternity ward or pediatric care (Hospitals, 2008). There is an academic hospital, these are teaching facilities. These facilities are open 24 hours a day and 7 days a week. They provide in-patient care. The academic facility usually provides the services in a hospital setting. This is because the students have to study all aspects of medicine and have hands on training. A public hospital is usually found in the inner- city. They are set up to provide care for the uninsured/ under insured of the community and may have ties with medical schools for their staffing needs.

Ambulatory care3 Ambulatory care vs. hospitals The not-for-profit hospital is the type we know best. These hospitals do not pay any taxes in exchange for providing a certain level of care to the community. The communitys physicians usually have clinic privileges there. The physicians are not on staff, but are able to admit, care for, and discharge their patients in is hospital setting. The for-profit hospital is basically operated in the same as the not-for-profit hospital. The different is that this type of hospital does pay taxes and often turn to public sector to help raise necessary funds. The rural hospitals are located outside the larger cities, in the country. They could be either not-for-profit or for-profit hospitals. These hospitals have been specified as rural by the U.S. Public Health Services and receive federal support. A specialty hospital is one that only serves one particular field of medicine. It could be a heart clinic, burn center, or a cancer center. The staff is specially trained in that particular field. A typical large hospital can offer many types of services, any where from A to Z: Anesthesia Behavioral Health Back/spine care Breast health Cancer care

Ambulatory care4 Cardiology Emergency care Laboratory work Radiology Surgeries

This is just naming a few of the services a hospital could offer. There are many more and they could be listed under different names (AtlantiCare, 2008). Ambulatory care is also called out-patient care. Ambulatory care is basically: care that is given outside the hospital setting, or not being admitted to the hospital for care (Pointer, Williams, Isaacs, & Knickman, 2007). While some hospitals offer out-patient care, most ambulatory care is done in clinics, doctors offices and even a patients home. In the 1990s ambulatory care was becoming popular. With the ever increasing advancements in technology, the rising health cost, and the need for easier access to health care, the procedures once done in the hospital, can now easily done in the out-patient setting. Due to rising in health care costs, many doctors office has gone to a group of doctors practicing under the same roof. For example: A heart clinic will only have specialty physicians dealing the heart. There are many specialty clinics around, however there are still some of the general care clinics around. These general clinics are ambulatory or out-patient clinics. Many are set up with a radiology department, a lab department, and can do EKGs. These ambulatory clinics offer a wide variety services like:

Ambulatory care5 The family clinic, for the normal everyday illnesses and injuries Birthing centers instead of a maternity ward Diagnostic imaging centers instead of having to go to the hospital just to have a mammogram done. A physical therapy group outside the hospital walls Many community health centers for the homeless, uninsured or under insured. Out-patient surgery could be done in the office. Womens healthcare centers (Accreditation Association, 2008)

The ambulatory care setting and the hospital setting have a lot of health services in common. A lot of hospital today are offering more out-patients services then ever before. As people become more aware of their health and the options they have, they will continue to demand more ambulatory care centers. The ambulatory care system also saves the patient time and money compared to having the same procedure done as an in-patient at a hospital.

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References Accreditation Association for Ambulatory Health Care, (2008) Retrieved July 26, 2008, from http://www.aaahc.org/eweb/dynamicpage.aspx?webcode=types_accredited AtlanitCare Health Services (2008) Retrieved July 26, 2008 from http://www.atlanticare.org/healthservices/index.php HOSPITALS, (2004) In Encyclopedia of Health Care Management, Sage Retrieved July 26, 2008, from http://www.credoreference.com/entry.jsp?xrefid=5064275%secid Pointer, Williams, Isaacs, & Knickman, (2007) Introduction to U.S. Healthcare [electronic version], Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons