lundi 6 janvier 2014

Ambulatory Services And The Reason Behind Their 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.

Most of the major hospitals have set aside a unit in for of ambulatory care clinics that offers these medical care to both adults and children in many specialty areas such as orthopedics, neurology, rehabilitation or even rheumatology among others all depending on the capacity of the hospital.

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.

For the success of ambulatory services, a multidisciplinary approach is usually involved. A team of doctors from different specialties are involved in addition to nurses, therapists, social workers and all well being personnel like wellness and fitness instructors and nutritionists among others. The patient is normally assured of full recovery under a success program with the whole coordination responsibility left in the hands of a primary nurse.

The great importance and increased demand for ambulatory services has seen insurance companies coming up with policies that specifically taken to offer to pay for such medical care programs. For those who are covered, access is usually accompanied with highly subsidized costs with insurance paying for all the costs in a number of covers.

Other than the normal treatments, many treatments that are now being provided through outpatient means include physical rehabilitation, orthotic, sport related injuries, chronic back pains (both acute and chronic), arthritis, neurology, oncology (polio, stroke, and nerve impairment), orthopedics (skeletal related disorders), osteoporosis (evaluation treatment), genetics and hereditary diseases, wound healing, rheumatology, and scoliosis among other support procedures.

The secret to outpatient medical care lies in the ability to follow up and monitor the patients. With such revelation, many health institutions are allocating huge budgets for this branch. It is now common to come across a major hospital with wards and many facilities in a central place but with several outpatient clinics set all around the city. Patients only come to the main hospital if it is a case that calls for hospitalization. Doctors also conduct frequent regional visits to promote this program in different parts of the town.

Ambulatory services promises to reduce some of the burdens faced by hospitals such as inadequacy of bed space and congestion in general. There is also huge reduction in operational costs with increased earnings for the hospital, a reason behind their popularity.




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