The healthcare sector is very crucial in every country as it involves the improvement or maintenance of health. Healthcare settings are not restricted to just hospitals and clinics. Healthcare can be provided in different setups depending on the demand, and how developed a country is. Such healthcare settings include ambulatory care, long term care, hospital, home health care and integrated delivery systems. A brief description of each of these health setups will be done, and the focus will be put majorly on integrated delivery systems.
A hospital is an institution that provides a variety of medical care services such as checkups, medical and surgical treatment and nursing the sick. Hospitals can be classified as general hospitals, specialized hospitals, referral hospitals or clinical health care centers. Ambulatory care, on the other hand, is provided on an outpatient basis. Advanced equipment and procedures are still used, but treatment is not confined to a building or institution. Primary care and diagnosis are made without admission to a health care institution.
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Home health care refers to supportive and medical services whose provision is usually done at home. These services can be offered by professional caregivers or preferably, health care professionals who are licensed. It is mostly given to people who are homebound. Long term care is described as care provided to persons with a disability or a chronic illness. The services offered are devised to satisfy a person’s specific health needs. Long term care resembles home health care in the sense that the former is mostly also provided at home.
When we talk about an integrated delivery system, commonly referred to as IDS, we are referring to a health network that encompasses different healthcare organizations. Such organizations include hospitals, nursing homes and clinics all owned and managed as one. The goal of an integrated delivery system is to logically deliver and provide healthcare as one unit, contrary to a fragmented structure (Gadd et al. 56).
There are benefits are associated with integrated delivery systems. They include minimal duplication of processes since services are offered by one single unit. Redundancy, time wastage and healthcare wastage can, therefore, be avoided. Improved quality of healthcare is also achieved when IDS is used, and this enhances a better reputation that can attract beneficial partnerships. An integrated delivery system is usually automated. Availability and accessibility of patient’s data and history are hence easy and faster. Teamwork is also enhanced in the process of delivering services to patients. Working together improves relations, togetherness and efficiency in the hospital. Patients even end up enjoying better services since communication is centered at one particular place. In addition to all those advantages, the administration is centralized, and this saves on cost.
The network can, however, be involved and management, as well as decision making, especially when it comes to financing, can be quite a task (Psek et al. 46). Finance is a significant part of every structure, and if not managed well, adequate provision of services will be compromised. The finance management problem is majorly faced because the healthcare organization is significant to the point that coordination is quite tricky. The system can also cause problems such as a lack of clear direction and supervision of everyone who is part of the system. New risks in the treatment of patients have also emerged, resulting in delays and errors that put the patients’ health on the line. Partnerships with some shareholders can also pose issues when making profits is prioritized over patients’ welfare.
Conclusively, healthcare settings keep on developing and advancing to provide optimum care and support to patients. Many countries are embracing the integrated delivery system approach, and it is proving to be a wise move. However, eliminating the few drawbacks associated with the system will go a long way in improving healthcare to the maximum and avoiding future complications.
References
Psek, W., Davis, F. D., Gerrity, G., Stametz, R., Bailey-Davis, L., Henninger, D., & Darer, J. (2016). Leadership perspectives on operationalizing the learning health care system in an integrated delivery system. eGEMs , 4 (3).
Gadd, C. S., Friedman, C. P., Douglas, G., & Miller, D. J. (1999). Information resources assessment of a healthcare integrated delivery system. In Proceedings of the AMIA Symposium (p. 525). American Medical Informatics Association.
