Providers offer highly specialized services to attract outpatient market.
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Ambulatory Surgical Procedures↗
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[Unification of outpatient and hospital services in Kłodzk].
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Ambulatory Care↗
Medicare program; limitation of reasonable charges for services in hospital outpatient settings--HCFA. Final rule with comment period.
These Regulations limit reasonable charge reimbursement for certain physicians' services furnished in hospital outpatient settings. This will be accomplished by refining the application of Medicare reasonable charge screens to reflect more accurately the reasonable charges for physicians' professional medical services in hospital outpatient settings. The regulations are needed to implement recent legislation that is designed to prevent duplicate payment for overhead expenses associated with the delivery of those services.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗
The impact of the fee-for-service reimbursement system on the utilisation of health services. Part II. Comparison of utilisation patterns in medical aid schemes and a local health maintenance organisation.
This study reports the results of a retrospective analysis of the use of a range of inpatient and outpatient services by the members of a health maintenance organisation (HMO), in which most providers are salaried, and by the members of three medical aid schemes in which providers are paid on a fee-for-services basis. The analysis shows significantly higher utilisation of all services by medical aid scheme members than by HMO members. Medical aid scheme patients saw all doctors 33% more often than their HMO counterparts. For general practitioners and specialists specifically, the differences were 36% and 18% respectively. Doctors looking after medical aid scheme beneficiaries ordered 133% more radiological procedures and 14% more pathological investigations than did those caring for HMO beneficiaries. Hospital utilisation was also higher for medical aid patients. While quality of care is difficult to measure, there are no reasons to suspect that significant differences in quality exist between the two systems described here. One factor that may contribute to the higher utilisation rates in the medical aid group is the higher average income of this group. However, these results also demonstrate that providers working in the fee-for-service system are likely to increase the supply of services compared with providers who are salaried. The different methods of reimbursement are compounded by the different practice settings in which these groups of doctors work; the HMO generates an awareness of costs that is absent from the independent practice, 'third-party payment' system of the medical aid schemes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
Clinical Laboratory Techniques↗
Public health infrastructure and equity in the utilization of outpatient health care services in Peru.
This article analyzes the magnitude and nature of socioeconomic differences in the utilization of outpatient health care services in Peru. In particular, it explores the potential equity-enhancing effect of the expansion and improvements in the network of health centres during the 1990s. The Peruvian health reform made relatively little progress in terms of the reform agenda promoted internationally during the 1990s. Nevertheless, the expansion of the public network of health centres and the improvements in their equipment has been noteworthy during the same period. Using the 1997 survey of the Peruvian Living Standards Measurement Study (PLSMS), we find large differences in the utilization of outpatient health care services. The richest to poorest quintile ratio is 1.9, and even larger in rural areas. Estimating a probit model with random effects at the district level to control for the systematic geographic bias associated with the optimal public allocation of such infrastructure, we find the income effect to be very large, even after controlling for other socioeconomic characteristics. Finally, we also find that the expansion of the public network of health centres has indeed an equity-enhancing effect, but this is rather small. These results indicate that although the expansion of the public network of health facilities may be necessary, it is not sufficient to promote equity in the utilization of health care services by Peruvian adults, especially in rural areas. It is important to look deeper into the costs of consultations and drugs as economic barriers to the utilization of health services by the poor. In particular, the expansion of health insurance mechanisms for the poor should be carefully monitored and evaluated.
Ambulatory Care↗
Medicaid behavioral health care plan satisfaction and children's service utilization.
This study examines associations between caregivers' satisfaction with children's Medicaid-funded behavioral health care plans and the likelihood that children with severe emotional disturbance receive mental health services. Data are from a multisite study of managed care versus fee-for-service (FFS) settings. In multivariate logistic regression analyses controlling for demographic, environmental, site, and clinical characteristics, plan satisfaction was associated with greater likelihood of subsequent service use regardless of managed care versus FFS setting. Children in managed care plans were less likely to use intensive residential and non-traditional outpatient services. Efforts to increase plan satisfaction may encourage service use, consequently, improving children's behavioral health outcomes.
Caregivers↗
[Expectations and service performance of social psychiatry services in free Saxony. An analysis of viewpoints of psychiatric practice and clinical specialists and coworkers of social psychiatric services].
After the "Polyclinic system" that had predominated in the GDR had been dismantled, a far-reaching restructuring of the complementary psychiatric care sector became necessary. In the State of Saxony, comprehensive establishment of a homogeneous home-visit outpatient service is the first building block in an interlinked system of regionalized community psychiatry. Based on about 20 years of experience in the Federal States of the FRG, this function is fulfilled by social psychiatry services (SPS). The present study investigates the expectations of free-practising psychiatrists (n = 165), doctors in psychiatric hospitals (n = 95) and staff of social psychiatry services (n = 138) throughout the State of Saxony in respect of available care and the way these new care structures work. The results are approximately representative owing to the high rate of responses in an anonymous postal survey of three specified groups (48.5%, 67.4%, 84.0%). All the groups surveyed expected that the clientel to be looked after by SPS will chiefly consist of the group of chronically mentally ill persons. Moreover, the consistently expressed expectations as to the central care/therapy to be provided by SPS can be summarised as the core of directly client-oriented SPS work. This consists of the elements "welfare work", "individual and institutionalised social therapy", and "help in administrative measures". The main differences between the two groups of doctors is that free-practising psychiatrists more often expect a large SPS involvement with regard to social therapy provided at an institutional level, whereas hospital doctors expect this with regard to medical therapies in the strict sense. Hospital doctors have greater expectations that SPS will also fulfil further functions: work with relatives, public relations, establishment of a crisis service and running self-help groups. The expectations of SPS staff with regard to the therapy they should provide themselves exceed what has already been currently achieved in all sectors. A detailed analysis of contents is also presented in this article. Besides improved staffing, SPS employees state that eliminating internal organisational and postgraduate training deficits are two major requirements for stabilization of their work. Appraisals of the quality of care for the chronically mentally ill in the outpatient complementary sector requested by hospital doctors and SPS staff in comparison with former provision structures in the GDR, show deterioration in the economic security of patients as well as of possibilities available in occupational rehabilitation. On the other hand, there are some improvements in the training of specialist staff whereas protection of the personality rights of patients as well as care measures are now free from ideological bias. These are crucial prerequisites for an update individualised, need-orientated therapeutic procedure. To counteract overburdening of the SPS with expectations of care and to enable a more unequivocal positioning of its structure in a complex system of psychosocial care, further need-orientated development and establishment of psychiatric facilities close to the community concerned, are urgently required, a least as far as the State of Saxony is concerned.
Ambulatory Care↗
Diagnosis of mental disorder in adults and increased use of health services in four outpatient settings.
The differential use of medical services by patients with and those without a diagnosis of mental disorder was examined in four adult populations by age, sex, diagnosis, and medical department used. The four settings offered comprehensive services to patients who varied greatly in socioeconomic status. In all four settings patients with a diagnosis of mental disorder used all services and general health services more than patients without such a diagnosis. Results document increased medical morbidity and a greater likelihood of a diagnosis of an ill-defined condition in patients with mental disorder than that found in patients without a diagnosis of mental disorder.
Adolescent↗
[Prospective study of the prescription of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents in a reception medical service of a university hospital. Influence of the prescriptor].
Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are estimated to be excessively prescribed. We have prospectively collected all drug prescriptions written by 50 doctors in an Outpatient Service, during a 5-day period. The purpose of this study was to draw the outline of NSAID prescriptors. Junior doctors (66%) wrote more controversial NSAID prescriptions (66%) than other doctors.
Ambulatory Care↗
Comprehensive pharmaceutical services in the outpatient surgery center of a health maintenance organization.
The pharmaceutical services provided to the outpatient surgery center of a health maintenance organization (HMO) are described. The satellite pharmacy is managed by the nearby central pharmacy. The satellite pharmacist prepares and dispenses all needed medications and i.v. admixtures, maintains the inventory of all drugs and i.v. supplies, and supplies clinical and drug information. The pharmacist ensures that i.v. admixtures are made according to guidelines, that drug interactions and drug allergies are guarded against, and that each patient has access to oral pain medications and medication counseling while still in the recovery room. The tighter inventory control created by this arrangement helps to reduce costs, and the surgical nursing staff has been relieved of many medication-related activities. The presence of the pharmacist in the surgery center also allows for more accurate documentation of controlled-drug dispensing. The presence of a pharmacist in the surgery center has ensured strict control of drug use and enabled nurses to spend more time on direct patient care.
Anesthesia↗
Operations research survey and computer simulation of waiting times in two medical outpatient clinic structures.
Outpatient services are increasingly recognised as an important component of health care provision and may be improved through the application of modern management techniques. We have performed a time and role audit of consultation and waiting times in two medical clinics using different queuing systems: namely, a serial processing clinic where patients wait in a single queue and a quasi-parallel processing clinic where patients are directed to the shortest queue to maintain clinic flow. Data collected were used to construct a computer simulation of patient flows in clinic. Assessment of patient satisfaction in the clinic process was determined using a self-administered questionnaire. Mean waiting time was shorter in the quasi-parallel processing clinic: 26 (SD 17) minutes compared with 36(24) minutes in the serial processing clinic. In the serial processing clinic 61% of patients waited more than 30 minutes compared with 41% in the quasi-parallel processing clinic. In the serial processing clinic 8% of 142 patients surveyed complained of the time spent waiting. The computer simulation we produced was able to determine waiting times with different clinic structures. The simulation showed that reductions in waiting time up to 30% might be achieved by changing our serial processing clinic to a quasi-parallel processing one. Performance of medical outpatient clinics can be improved by examining and changing clinic management. Computer simulation of outpatient clinics offers a means of assessing the impact of such changes on waiting time in clinic and on waiting lists.
Algorithms↗
[An analysis of the diagnostic errors in polyclinic patients who have died at home based on pathologicoanatomic studies].
A statistical analysis of the main causes of death and assessment of the quality of outpatient diagnosis have been performed on the basis of 1843 autopsies of patients who died at home. The causes of misdiagnosis were due in 5.3% of cases to objective and in 94.7% of cases to subjective factors. The criteria of three categories of discrepancy between pathological and outpatient diagnosis are suggested. A positive role of a pathological examination as an additional factor in improving the quality of the outpatient service is shown.
Aged↗
The inpatient value of an occupational health program.
For a five-year period, the outpatient services and inpatient admissions after an initial and exclusive contact with a hospital occupational health program were analyzed. Results indicate that there were 7.24 subsequent inpatient and 59.06 subsequent outpatient admissions per 1000 patients receiving an occupational health physical examination.
Catchment Area, Health↗
The implementation of Medicare's outpatient prospective payment system and specific concerns for rural hospitals.
The transition to Medicare's new prospective payment system for hospital outpatient services has arguable been the most complex and difficult programmatic change in the history of Medicare (Federal Register, 2002). Concern about its adverse effects led to holding rural hospitals with 100 beds or fewer harmless from the financial consequences of the new payment system for the first three years. However, small rural hospitals were not held harmless from implementing the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS). Many outside observers felt that small rural hospitals would be ill-equipped to handle the immensity of change required, and that claim denials or delays caused by inaccurate claims submissions might have a disproportionate effect on smaller hospitals. There were also reports about difficulties with the interim payment system that had been designed to ensure small hospitals did not lose money during the first three years. This policy brief describes issues that arose in implementing OPPS during the first years of the program, identifies specific implementation concerns for small rural hospitals, and raises issues that may warrant further research or policy action.
Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, U.S.↗
HealthSouth's integrated service model: a case study.
The HealthSouth Corporation's St. Louis, Missouri, provider network is a forward-looking example of an alternative approach to integrated delivery. Patients are served through a continuum of care weighted toward outpatient services.
Ambulatory Care↗
The economic effect of a tertiary hospital-based heart failure program.
OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to determine the economic effect of a tertiary heart failure (HF) program at an academic medical center. BACKGROUND: Most hospitals use cross-sectional financial models to analyze the economic contribution of clinical programs for a budget period. We estimated the incremental value of a tertiary hospital HF program on the basis of the longitudinal utilization of a sample of HF patients. METHODS: The primary data source was a sample of 82 HF patients referred for cardiac transplant evaluation at an academic medical center during calendar years 2000 to 2001. Cumulative recurrent rates of utilization, cost, and reimbursement for hospital services were computed as functions of time using reliability models. The economic contribution of patients transplanted was contrasted with those not transplanted. RESULTS: Mean hospitalizations and outpatient encounters per patient at the end of the first year of follow-up for those transplanted were 2.1 (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.6 to 2.7) and 11.9 (95% CI 9.2 to 15.4), compared with 1.1 (95% CI 0.8 to 1.6) and 6.0 (95% CI 4.8 to 7.6), respectively, for those not transplanted. Mean revenue and direct cost per patient were 194,470 dollars (95% CI 136,683 dollars to 276,689 dollars) and 146,623 dollars (95% CI 96,377 dollars to 233,065 dollars), respectively, for transplanted patients and 43,587 dollars (95% CI 28,149 dollars to 67,503 dollars) and 33,424 dollars (95% CI 21,584 dollars to 51,760 dollars), respectively, for non-transplanted patients. The point estimates of first-year contribution margins per patient for transplanted and non-transplanted patients were 47,847 dollars and 10,163 dollars, respectively. CONCLUSIONS: Newly evaluated patients for cardiac transplantation at an academic medical center generated substantial incident demands for inpatient and outpatient services over a two-year follow-up period. The estimated contribution margin associated with these services was positive. Hospitals without cardiac transplantation that serve high-acuity HF patients may generate favorable long-term contribution margins, on the basis of the results for the non-transplant group.
Academic Medical Centers↗
Ageing and public satisfaction with the health service: an analysis of recent trends.
One possible explanation for the positive relationship between age and public and user views of health care is that it reflects a generational effect and this relationship has changed over the last decade or so. The analysis carried out in this report examines the relationship between ageing and levels of satisfaction with the health service in the UK using pooled data from the British Social Attitudes Survey, 1983-99. At the descriptive level there is strong evidence of a positive trend between age and satisfaction with general practice and hospital services, and for how the NHS is run but not for NHS primary dental services. Also, when comparing 1983 with 1999 data, there is evidence of a shift down in satisfaction levels for all of these indicators with the widest gap in inpatient services. At the multivariate level there is some evidence to suggest that, over time, the older population value how the NHS is run and GP and dental services at a slightly higher rate compared with the younger population, but the effect is small. This 'age/cohort' interaction effect is, however, negative for inpatient and outpatient services. These findings show little evidence of marked changes in attitude among the elderly or that the elderly are becoming more critical and less positive in their attitude to health care in the UK. The theoretical and methodological implications of these findings are discussed.
Adult↗
Referrals, diagnoses, and neuropsychological findings in an outpatient sample of German children and adolescents with brain dysfunction.
Although the necessity of outpatient neuropsychological rehabilitation of neurologically impaired children and adolescents is widely accepted, outpatient services, however, are scarcely supplied. Furthermore, there are only a few analyses of the requirement of such services for children and adolescents. This investigation presents the results of an empirical analysis of referral sources, referral diagnoses, demographic characteristics, and neuropsychological findings for an outpatient neuropsychological utilization sample of children and adolescents with brain dysfunction. Finally, suggestions for the further development of adequate rehabilitation programmes are discussed.
Adolescent↗