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.

Such services are normally available for both the adults and children and will depend on several factors the most important being the nature of medical complication and general health status. Medical facilities are now setting aside special clinics for this purpose with all the departments and specialties including rehabilitation, rheumatology, neurology and gynecology among others.

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.

With the popularity ambulatory services, insurance companies are readily offering covers in this area. Many employee benefits also include medical covers in this category, the result of which has seen these programs offered in highly subsidized costs particularly depending on the type of cover. In fact, the determinant of whether treatment is to be through in patient or outpatient process is normally the existing medical condition and the insurance cover.

Other than emergency cases involving extreme cases and highly specialized surgeries, a number of treatments are now provided under the outpatient basis with the patient only required to report for checkups on periodic basis. Some treatments provided on this basis include physical rehabilitation, orthotic services, chronic back pain management, wound healing, osteoporosis, orthopedics, rheumatology, genetic disorders and scoliosis among many others.

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 have contributed immensely in reducing the operational costs of medical institutions while increasing public access to medical facilities. It has revolutionized medical sector making it much more efficient and effective as it is impractical to host all patients within medical premises.




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