The purpose of ambulatory care
Ambulatory care refers to any form of medical care that is provided on an out patient basis. In other word the patients are not admitted into hospital. This medical care can include: diagnosis, observation, treatment or rehabilitation. Corpus Sanchez (2009, p.1) writes that
Ambulatory care is defined as a broad range of services, including prevention, assessment, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation that are most effectively delivered in an outpatient setting where hospitalization is not desired or required. These services will include specialty clinics; non-specialty clinics; community-based programs and services; day surgery; other primary health care services and private practice. These services will be patient-centred and delivered through a network of clinical and research sites, including, but not limited to, hospital-based outpatient clinic settings.
The purpose of ambulatory care is to provide for patients who do not need to be admitted in hospital. Ambulatory care ensures swift access to health care for patients who have minor problems. Ambulatory care also helps with the decongestion of hospitals. Patients who do not have to stay in hospital for long are treated and discharged to go home. They only have to come to hospital on an “out-patient” basis.
Vision for new health care system
Although the state of medical technology in the United States is often rated as the best in the world, a lot is left to be desire. Sadly, in other parts of the world people enjoy better health care than what is obtained in the US. Healthcare in the US is expensive and some people cannot afford- some US citizens do not have health insurance. Such people do not have access to healthcare even when they are sick. My vision for a new health care system in the United States is centered around two major areas, namely: lower cost of healthcare thereby improving access to healthcare and improving quality of health care.
Long term options for the new proposal
It is important to lower the cost of healthcare because there is no point having state of the art health facilities in the US when ordinary citizens cannot afford to pay for their medical bills. As a long term option for my new proposal, government should regulate the activity of employers and insurance companies with regard to the health insurance policies they offer workers. This is a step at ensuring that workers can pay their medical bills. Some insurance policies do not cover all health costs. Thus, government should look into that issue and make a policy to address it. People do not often decide what illnesses they will have so it is not proper that insurance companies draw up a list of health issues that policies cover. Also government needs to provide basic health insurance for all its citizens especially the aged and people from disadvantaged groups. Also, people (i.e. workers) in the US should be encouraged to save up in a health scheme so that they can afford expensive health care procedure if they need such later in life. It is not good enough to leave health care provision to government. There needs to be a balance.
The challenges facing mental health care
There are many challenges facing mental health care in the United States. These challenges facing mental health care include: finance, difficulty of monitoring mental healthcare providers, care of violent mental patients, need for specialization in mental health care, and access to mental health care for marginalized groups.
Measuring quality of health care
Measuring the quality of health care is important because patients want to be sure that the health care they receive is the best. Also, government is concerned about the state of health care in the country. The Institute of Medicine (2001, p.3) defines quality of care as,
… the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge
Quality of health care can be assessed using the work of Donabedian (1988) which separates health care quality into three: structure, process and outcomes. Structure refers to the various parts of the health care system such as staff training and skills, equipment and organization of health care facilities. Process on the other hand means the way in which diagnosis is done for individual patients. Outcomes refer to what happens after treatment is carried out- do the patients die or get better? When each of these variables are measured, it goes determines the quality of care. Furthermore the Institute of Medicine (2001) notes six elements which connote health care quality, namely: patient safety, effectiveness of care provided, patient-centeredness, timeliness, efficiency, and equity. These attributes are attained by implementing when quality of care strategies.
Role of health care workers in determining quality of health care
Health care workers have an important role in determining the quality of health care. According to the analysis of health care quality by Donabedian (1988) health care workers are have to do with the structure of health institutions. Thus, if health care workers are properly trained, then they are in a position to provide improved quality of health care. Another important variable is remuneration. Well paid health care workers are motivated to put in their best on the job. This has great impact on the quality of care. Interestingly, even the sex of the doctor determines the quality of care. Gandey (2008) writes about a study which suggests that a doctor’s sex and medical training determine the quality of care which breast cancer patients receive.
References
Corpus Sanchez (2009) “What is ambulatory care?” Retrieved March 4th 2009 from http://www.saskatoonhealthregion.ca/about_us/service_alignment_projects_ambulatory_care.htm
Donabedian A. (1988) “The quality of care: how can it be assessed?” JAMA Vol 260 pp.1743–1748
Gandey, Alison (2008) “Physician characteristics determine quality of cancer care.” Journal of the National Cancer Institute Vol. 100 pp.199-206
Institute of Medicine (2001) Crossing the Quality Chasm. Washington, DC: National Academy Press.