2.7 Theme III: Cost:
Cost of hospitals is one of the main constituents in the structure of any healthcare expenditure. Hospital days of burns patients averages to two days per one percent TBSA (average 10.42 days per patient) and with a mean cost of $15,250 as per the cost analysis studies conducted by Sahin et al. (2011) and Hashmi & Kamal (2013). The average daily cost of burns patients in Omani hospital is about OR70 where OR40 is for the room occupancy per day, while the balance is for medications and other procedures. Average hospital days of burnt patients in Oman days range between 10 – 20 days as per the Infection Control Department in Oman (2012).
There have been only a few studies discussing the cost issues related to building new ward/unit and the cost difference of single versus multi-occupied rooms. The initial cost of constructing a new isolation unit/ward inclusive of cost of maintenance, furniture, housekeeping and energy like ventilation and heating, is very high. However, as shown by Bowbrow & Thomas (2000) in Chaudhury et al. (2005) and Hugodot & Normand (2007) a hospital’s operational costs of single occupancy rooms are lower than the operational cost of multi-occupancy rooms. That study showed that the occupancy rate of multi-occupied rooms were 80-85 percent, whereas the rate of single rooms reached the maximum of
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Moreover, if the patient has acquired any infection, the antibiotics needed for subsequent treatment will increase the cost of treatment. The cost will increase dramatically if the patient is infected with a multi-drug resistant organism (MDRO) like MRSA which requires expensive antibiotics for treatment. Medication errors may happen in any busy healthcare facility though it is more common when administering medication in a multi-occupied
Supposedly, the national average occupancy rate of hospitals is lower than it should be because of rising costs of hospital care. Factors causing variations in occupancy rates are hospital size, product diversification, and urgent versus non-urgent
The challenges that all acute care hospitals and facilities faces are the demand for highly specialized services has increased. The US population is constantly aging and the elderly tend to need more acute care services. Because many people lack health insurance, they tend to use emergency rooms in the hospitals as their source of care. The increase demand in acute care prompted hospitals to expand their facility
Describe the differences between nonprofit and for-profit hospitals. William & Torres provided a table to reflect hospital ownership, and noted that some hospitals, while owned by one type of entity, may be operating under a contract by another entity, such as a hospital management company (Williams & Torres, page 185). Some of the largest groups of hospitals in the nation are nonprofit community hospitals (Williams & Torrens, page 185). Nonprofit entities, including hospitals, function under special provisions of corporation law in each state, and under federal and state tax provisions that recognize their community service function (Williams & Torrens, page 185).
There are many causes of accidental death in the United States, one of the most commonly seen are burn injuries. Burn injuries can effect a victim both internally (lungs) and externally (skin), they are so serious that many major hospitals have a burn unit area solely for the treatment of burn victims. In this research paper we will discuss the important issues dealing with the injuries of a burn victim such as the etiology, epidemiology, pathophysiology, complications and treatment.
Medication Errors one of the biggest issues happening in an acute care setting today . Although, Medications are given based on the five rights principles: the right patient, right medication, right route, right dose, and right time. Even with the five rights principles medication errors are still happening. However, some of the errors that are occurring are due to poor order transcriptions and documentation, drug interactions, proper drug name and not paying enough attention and environment factors.
HAI rates, nurse staffing, length of patient stay, and patient outcomes need to be evaluated in a collaborative manner. Nurses play a vital role within the health care system, and the effects of nurse staffing on patient stay, outcomes, and HAIs is a critical element in health care needing immediate attention. A positive increase in nurse-to-patient ratio, even by adding one additional nurse per shift, will decrease HAIs, patient length of stay, and patient mortality. Stronger educational programs within hospitals regarding infection control are also needed. A more informed and educated nursing staff will likely result in a better educated patient. Overall, staffing of nurses proves to be a critical link between patients and HAI rates.
Burns occur at an alarming rate. In the United States alone, an estimated two million people suffer from burns each year, and of those two million burn victims, about 500,000 people seek treatment for the burns and 40,000 people are hospitalized (“Facts,” n.d.). Most burn injuries happen at work or at home, with about 40% of all burns happening at home (“First,” 2011). Burn injuries cause about 300,000 serious injuries each year, and are attributed to the cause of approximately 6,000 deaths each year, making burns America’s third largest cause of accidental death (“Facts,” n.d.).
Infection has ripple effect on the patient, payers and the institution (Juraja, M. 2014). To the patient, it leads to increased cost of care, prolonged hospital stay, pressure on existing co-morbidity and to the extreme end lead to loss of life or function. To the payer, it leads to increased cost burden. The cost incurred on HAI can be allocated to other areas such as vaccine research. In the event of HAI, the institution has to absorb the cost incurred on care that will not be reimbursed by the payer, loss of trust by the client, loss of accreditation in case of non-compliance, and legal liability
Health care professionals must have provide the best quality of care while dealing with patients. Quality of healthcare is “the degree to which health services for individuals and populations increase the likelihood of desired health outcomes and are consistent with current professional knowledge. Managed care is a system of care delivery involving complex organizational arrangements between institutions and clinicians, explicit financial incentives, defined access to service, controls on the use of services, 3 coordination and integration of services. (McConnell, C, 2010) Cost balance is health professionals trying to balance the cost while improving the quality of care. Although these health professionals are for improving the quality and cost balance in healthcare, it is taking a strain on them with the rising cost of healthcare,
Generally in life, an overabundance of anything is thought of as a blessing.For instance, most people would say that there is no point where someone has too much money, or too much time; however, having and using too many antibiotics can be a problem.With the advent of antibiotics in 1929 Fleming warned that, "The time may come when penicillin can be bought by anyone in the shops.Then there is the danger that the ignorant man may easily underdose himself and by exposing his microbes to non-lethal quantities of the drug make them resistant."[1]Following with Fleming's words antibiotics need to be prescribed in a judicious fashion, not of one with a careless action, "one third of the 150 million outpatient prescriptions are unnecessary."[2]With the overuse of antibiotics today we have seen this very idea come to be.Over usage is caused most prevalently by a lack of education on the part of the patient.Thus stated, the way to overcome such a circumstance is to educate, not only the physician but also the patient.
The prescribing of antibiotics and the use of antibiotics requires increased awareness by practitioners and their knowledge of effective treatment for certain bacteria. By taking a holistic approach in treating infections, all stakeholders will be able to not only manage infections, but also minimize the occurrence of antibiotic resistance. As a practitioner is in important to be aware of how and when to prescribe antibiotics and the effect it has on the epidemic of antibiotic resistance. By educating other staff members and patients on antibiotic resistant organisms and the national trends, individuals will become aware of why antibiotics are no longer prescribed for all illnesses and are prescribed only for the ones in which they are affective against.
Patient safety must be the first priority in the health care system, and it is widely accepta-ble that unnecessary harm to a patient must be controlled.Two million babies and mother die due to preventable medical errors annually worldwide due to pregnancy related complications and there is worldwide increase in nosocomial infections, which is almost equal to 5-10% of total admissions occurring in the hospitals. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Total 1.4 million patients are victims of hospital-acquired infection. (WHO Patient Safety Research, 2009). Unsafe infection practice leads to 1.3 million death word wide and loss of 26 millions of life while ad-verse drug events are increasing in health care and 10% of total admitted patients are facing ad-verse drug events. (WHO Patient Safety Re...
Infection control is very important in the health care profession. Health care professionals, who do not practice proper infection control, allow themselves to become susceptible to a number of infections. Among the most dreaded of these infections are: hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV). Another infection which has more recently increased in prevalence is methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). These infections are all treated differently. Each infection has its own symptoms, classifications, and incubation periods. These infections are transmitted in very similar fashions, but they do not all target the same population.
States in the recent years. The purpose of today’s health care is to manage costs while
The number of seriously ill patients admitted to our government hospital has increased steadily over the last few years, and overcrowding of the wards and department is now a common scenario. Some of this congestion is a result of the number of patients receiving care is drastically increasing, health care professionals providing that care is consuming heaps of time, and often, people visiting patients in the hospital. Overcrowding may affect patients' symptoms, clinical outcome, and satisfaction. It can also affect physician's effectiveness, causing frustration among medical staff. It may even contribute to violence on the wards. To add on, one of the most common myths about overcrowding is the