Question

Does it make a difference whether the setting is a hospital, ambulatory care or home care when designing patient care systems? Why?

Answer 1

Hospital

A hospital's primary task is to provide short-term care for people with severe health issues resulting from injury, disease or genetic anomaly. Open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, hospitals bring together physicians in assorted specialties, a highly skilled nursing staff, various medical technicians, health care administrators and specialized equipment to deliver care to people with acute and chronic health conditions. Many hospitals offer a wide range of services, including emergency care, scheduled surgeries, labor and delivery services, diagnostic testing, lab work, and patient education. Depending on their health situation, patients may receive inpatient or outpatient care from a hospital.

Ambulatory Surgical Center

Some surgeries are too complex to be done safely in a doctor's office but simple enough that patients generally do not require hospital care after undergoing them. Ambulatory surgical centers are designed to provide these types of procedures. Also referred to as outpatient or same day surgery centers, these facilities offer a safe environment for the surgery and basic monitoring during the initial post-operation hours. Ambulatory surgical centers are often a less expensive option than a hospital. A study led by Dr. John Hollingsworth, a researcher at the University of Michigan's Dow Division of Health Services Research and Center for Healthcare Outcomes & Policy and an assistant professor of urology at the university, compared the cost of 22 common urology procedures at various health care facilities and found that the same procedures generally cost significantly less when performed at an ambulatory surgical center instead of a hospital.

Nursing Home

A nursing home is designed for patients who require constant care but do not need to be hospitalized and cannot be cared for at home. Often associated with seniors who require custodial care in a residential facility, it can actually serve patients of all ages who require this level of care. Nursing homes have medical personal onsite 24 hours a day. A physician, skilled nurses and therapists are on staff to oversee and provide medical care, assistance with medications, and services like physical, speech and occupational therapy. In addition, the nursing home's staff offers help with basic tasks that can be challenging for individuals with health issues, including feeding, bathing and dressing.

When seeking care for yourself or a loved one, it helps to have a sense of the types of services that various health care facilities offer. Ultimately, the facility that will best suit your needs depends on the patient's health situation, their insurance coverage and the type of care required.

Home healthcare means care for people; elders, patients, new borns, kids and mothers; in the comfort of their own home. When delivered and managed by professional home care agency, it is well in the form of home care services into your own house. Healthcare at home services is a relatively new trend in India; which culturally have more of elderly's and young kids living as part of big joint families, where family members themselves have been the caregivers round the clock, when in need of special care at home.