Analyzing and evaluating the two most salient trends impacting the inpatient or outpatient setting
Various trends are affecting both inpatient and outpatient care the most important of which is the rise of e-measures and increase of co-management arrangements. Along with traditional hospital-physician relationships, one may observe a new form of collaboration between hospitals and independent physicians. According to co-management arrangements, hospitals hire employed groups of physicians to manage quality issues that are related to service lines (Angood & Birk, 2014). These arrangements seem to be quite significant in improving hospital performance because of their high adaptability. Therefore, the expected continuation of this trend is the development of co-management arrangements. E-measures are aimed at automation of health issues measurement that is more accurate and time saving compared to non-automated measures (Garrido et al., 2014). However, there is a range of difficulties in regulation between such actors as accrediting entities, government, vendors, and payers. It seems that the use of Electronic Health Records (EHRs) can considerably affect the quality of reporting by clearly illustrating provider workflows and promoting quality.
The positive and negative impacts of these trends
The positive points of co-management arrangements include versatility and goal-oriented nature. The first point means that these arrangements are adaptable to different hospital service lines (Angood & Birk, 2014). In other words, they can be used to adjust to the ever-changing environment promptly. The second point implies that co-management arrangements can be specifically oriented at a certain goal. For example, it can be associated with a certain physician or a group of them. As for the negative aspects of this trend, one can note that in case a group of physicians is involved in the collaboration, then its members have to agree to contribute to the effectiveness of a hospital. Otherwise, the engagement of members would not be full and sufficient. Also, some legal issues should be noted. In particular, the government may intervene in case of payment concerns.
Speaking of e-measures, it is important to state that they are useful in tracking and controlling a patient’s health issues. The time savings that result from this trend are another positive impact that helps to provide quality health care services (McWilliams, Chernew, Dalton, & Landon, 2014). The current partial automation of health-related processes is likely to be replaced by the full automation. This step can offer increased efficiency and quality. However, economic strains are the main negative aspects of implementing e-measures. In particular, the cost of development, implementation, and maintenance require significant costs. Nevertheless, a breakeven can also be achieved.
Are these trends sustainable?
The sustainability of the identified trends seems to be quite obvious and relevant to the challenges set by the modern world. Both of the mentioned trends help adapt to the changing circumstances and provide high-quality care (Garrido et al., 2014). It seems that these trends would be developed and finalized according to the requirements of hospitals and health care organizations. At this point, it is necessary to stress that the trends of co-management arrangements and e-measures are closely connected with other trends such as reductions in hospital readmissions, Medicare programs, and other issues (White, Carney, Flynn, Marino, & Fields, 2014). Therefore, it seems to be essential to consider their impacts in connection with other trends to ensure comprehensive and appropriate analysis. For example, the sustainability of either one or both identified trends may depend on hospital readmissions or management, thus impacting their quality, timeliness, and effectiveness.
References
Angood, P., & Birk, S. (2014). The value of physician leadership. Physician Executive, 40(3), 6–20.
Garrido, T., Kumar, S., Lekas, J., Lindberg, M., Kadiyala, D., Whippy, A.,… Weissberg, J. (2014). E-measures: Insight into the challenges and opportunities of automating publicly reported quality measures. Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, 21(1), 181–184..
McWilliams, J. M., Chernew, M. E., Dalton, J. B., & Landon, B. E. (2014). Outpatient care patterns and organizational accountability in Medicare. JAMA Internal Medicine, 174(6), 938–945.
White, B., Carney, P. A., Flynn, J., Marino, M., & Fields, S. (2014). Reducing hospital readmissions through primary care practice transformation. Journal of Family Practice, 63(2), 67–74.