Thursday, December 26, 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.

Ambulatory service clinics are being set aside by the majority of hospitals as most patients are treated on the outpatient categories. Huge budgets are even set for these clinics with specialties from all the medical fields including neurologists, oncologists, gynecologists, orthopedics among others all coming together under these clinics.

In most of these clinics, a new patient will normally be assigned to a specific nurse on the first visit. This primary nurse will be in charge of coordinating all the treatment plans of the patient during the subsequent visits. In addition to this, the nurse is charged with the responsibility of storing and ensuring that the information relating to that patient is up to date. They also serve as a liaison between the patient and all other healthcare providers depending on the needs of a particular patient.

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.

Many insurance companies and even the public health covers usually provide for ambulatory services. This therefore make such medical care very affordable and available to laterally all patients with the health condition and the nature of disease or injury being the determinant is the treatment will be done inpatient or through outpatient means.

Some of the treatments that are now common with ambulatory care include sport related injuries, back pains that either chronic or acute, arthritis, orthotic, physical rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, orthopedics, osteoporosis, genetic disorders, rheumatology, wound healing, post surgery treatments, gynecology treatments, and scoliosis just to mention a few.

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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