Trends impacting the ancillary setting
Changes in the global environment highly affect the ancillary setting. In the context of this study, diagnostic hospital ancillary services tend to be prioritized, and they include important matters such as radiology and laboratory testing. These aspects are vital since they improve the accuracy of diagnosis and minimize the frequency of medical errors. In the first place, changes in legislation, insurance, Medicare coverage, and payment system have a critical impact on the hospital’s ancillary setting. Aiming at the universal healthcare system modifies medical institutions’ functioning while causing an upward shift in operational costs (Arora, Moriates, & Shah, 2015). This matter may limit the possibility of developing the ancillary setting and decrease the number of available diagnostic services due to the need to reduce spending.
Furthermore, the continuous development of technology can be defined as another salient trend affecting the ancillary setting. In this instance, it may be required to replace testing equipment frequently to improve the quality of the provided care and stay competitive in the market and comply with industrial trends. A combination of these factors has to be considered of high importance, as they can positively impact the overall quality of the provided healthcare and availability of the services.
Necessity for more ancillary services
As was mentioned earlier, ancillary services are highly important since they maximize the hospital’s revenue and improve the quality of the provided medical assistance. Apart from the well-developed healthcare infrastructure and the rising popularity of the universal approach, it could be said that adding extra diagnostic ancillary services is essential. One of the primary reasons for this claim is that some population groups’ needs are still unmet. For example, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has a higher prevalence among Hispanics/Latinos than other population groups because their needs for ancillary services such as eye and dental diagnosis and public benefits are not recognized (Korhonen, DeGroote, Shouse, & Bradley, 2016). Consequently, this case shows that it is vital to introduce additional facilities to satisfy minority groups’ preferences, such as Hispanics, to reduce disparities in healthcare. This act will support the universal medical assistance model concepts and increase healthcare availability in the United States of America. Nonetheless, before introducing additional diagnostic services, it could be said that it is critical to evaluate the financial budget’s possibilities to ensure that this decision is relevant.
Ancillary services missing in non-metropolitan areas
It remains apparent that not all diagnostic ancillary services are available in metropolitan areas. This matter occurs due to the inefficiency of the existent healthcare system and disparities in the United States of America. At the same time, buying expensive diagnostic equipment may not be cost-effective for the healthcare industry. One solution to this medical problem is telehealthcare assistance, as it helps contact medical providers and conduct the required diagnosis distantly (Goodridge & Marciniuk, 2016). Using this technological innovation not only fills the mentioned gaps and reduces disparities in the medical sphere but also helps decrease the number of financial resources required for the maintenance. These long-distance ancillary services are less expensive than manual assistance. In this case, it could be said that a combination of digital monitoring and remote care principles increases access to the diagnostic services to the population of rural areas. Overall, this strategy shows that using technological advantages brings healthcare to an entirely new level in the constantly changing world of innovation.
References
Arora, V., Moriates, C., & Shah, N. (2015). The challenge of understanding health care costs and charges. American Medical Association Journal of Ethics, 17(11), 1046-1052.
Goodridge, D., & Marciniuk, D. (2016). Rural and remote care: Overcoming the challenges of distance. Chronic Respiratory Disease, 13(2), 192-203.
Korhonen, L., DeGroote, N., Shouse, R., & Bradley, H. (2016). Unmet needs for ancillary services among Hispanics/Latinos receiving HIV medical care – United States, 2013-2014. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report, 65(40), 1104-1107.