An Overview of Outpatient and Primary Care

Outpatient care can best be defined as care for someone who has come to a health facility for testing or treatment but does not occupy a bed overnight. There are many forms of treatment available as an outpatient, and one of those forms includes primary care. Primary care is care given by a provider and is the patient’s first contact with the health care system. Most importantly, it is the start of a continuing health care process.

There are three essential characteristics to outpatient and primary care: point of entry, coordination of care, and essential care. The beginning of health care services starts at the point of entry, and patients visit specialists mostly by referral. A referral helps eliminate procedures that are not needed and prevents over treatment of a patient. In addition to referrals, the health care provider also gives advice about various diagnoses and therapies, discusses treatment options, and provides continuing care to the patient. This is known as the coordination of care, and its purpose is to ensure continuity and comprehensiveness to a patient’s health care needs. Finally, essential care refers to the overall health in a population, not just the health of an individual who has access to health services. With these three elements of outpatient and primary care, it is easy to see why many people are turning more towards this type of health service.

As future health care providers, we understand that most of our patients will be of the elderly population. At this age, it is essential that outpatient and primary care be accessible, affordable, and of good quality. Most patients do not want to be kept in a hospital overnight unless it is absolutely necessary, and outpatient clinics make this possible.

Outpatient and primary care is truly community based and strives to be convenient and easily accessible to everyone. According to Shi and Singh, over half of the surgeries that had taken place in 1990 were performed in an outpatient setting, and by 2004, surgeries performed in outpatient facilities had risen from 16.3 percent to 63.3 percent (2008). Such a drastic increase in outpatient procedures can be explained by its accessibility. Insurance companies have begun to prefer outpatient services over inpatient services. New technology has allowed for services that don’t require a hospital stay, and many patients are comforted knowing that they won’t have to stay overnight at a hospital. Finally, physicians are becoming more specialized in certain procedures, and are therefore taking less time in performing these services.

Along with the convenience and accessibility of outpatient and primary care, services are focusing on basic, routine, and inexpensive care while using appropriate technology. Some people may argue that costs in health care are continually rising; however, a main purpose of primary care is to refer patients to more costly procedures only when it is necessary. Outpatient care is also less expensive than inpatient care due to a limited number of services required, and these services may include 24 hour care, weekend nurses, housekeeping, food, etc. It has also been shown that countries that are focused mainly on primary care achieve better health levels, higher satisfaction with health services, and lower costs overall.

Not only is outpatient and primary care being more accessible to patients and costing less, but the quality of health services offered have significantly increased. Some people may argue that the quality of treatment is less as an outpatient than as an inpatient. However, it is because of new diagnostic and treatment procedures that have allowed for outpatient clinics. Surgeries are less invasive, anesthetics are shorter-acting, and recovering time has declined dramatically. These advancements are just some of the reasons why outpatient clinics now exist.

Today, outpatient clinics are typically part of a larger medical center and emphasize the continuity of care. This type of care has expanded to multiple different branches of health care services including private practice, hospital-based services, home health care, and many more. The different services being offered give patients a choice in their health care, giving them independence and control, which are two key elements in the quality of life.

By Nicole Christian


References

Adler, A. M., & Carlton, R. R. (2007). Introduction to radiologic sciences and patient
care. St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier.

Carr, R. (2008). Outpatient clinic. Retrieved February 17, 2009, from
http://www.wbdg.org/design/outpatient.php.

Jecklin, R. (2009). Cost, access, and quality [PowerPoint slides]. Retrieved from
https://uwlax.courses.wisconsin.edu/d2l/orgTools/ouHome/ouHome.asp.

Robak, W. (2007). RAND study finds higher quality outpatient care greatly benefits
chronically ill patients. Retrieved February 19, 2009, from http://news.bio-
medicine.org.

Shi, L., & Singh D. A. (2008). Delivering health care in America: a systems approach.
Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett.

Political and Philosophical Stance

The political stance of our group is independent; we do not side completely with either the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. The three main values and beliefs of our group were developed from those listed in Delivering Health Care in America by Shi and Singh. Our main values are a concern for the underprivileged of the American society, the importance of nationwide access to health care, and equally good services in poor or rural communities as affluent and urban areas. The main beliefs of our group include the importance of technology in health care, the necessary role of social and spiritual elements of health, and the positive use of clinical interventions instead of alternative therapies in helping patients. A last strong belief of our group is that “although health care will never be perfect, there is always room for improvement” (Consumers, 2007).

With the majority of our team majoring in radiation therapy, many of our beliefs and values directly support those held by radiation therapists, according to the ASRT website. Therefore, it is especially important to us that underprivileged people such as the elderly, the main demographic treated with radiation therapy, have access to good outpatient care without regard to how much money or insurance they have or the part of the country they live in. The use of technology and clinical interventions instead of alternative medicine is especially important to us as well, because without it, our practice would not exist. From both observations of patients and readings from a text on patient care, we have learned firsthand the importance of a strong social and spiritual network and belief system for the patient, especially when going through something as stressful as daily outpatient care like radiation therapy.

Although the use of technology and clinical interventions would most likely raise the costs of health care even further, it is for the good of the population. Our beliefs state that access to quality nationwide health care is important to us, which would also increase the financial burden of health care, but at the same time, it would allow many more people access. Having quality care would improve the overall quality of the system, which would hopefully pay off in the long run.

The political stance our group took is important, because being independent allows us to reach out and connect with both republican and democratic groups without being turned down before they even hear our ideas. According to wikipedia.com, although many people will say it is better to have a strong political opinion or affiliation one way or another, being middle of the road has worked out for many elected officials.

Written by: Rachel deLongpre

References

• About our profession. (2009). Retrieved February 11, 2009, from American society of radiologic technologists Web site: https://www.asrt.org/content/abouttheprofession/_AboutTheProfession.aspx
• Adler, A. M., & Carlton, R. R. (2007). Introduction to radiologic sciences and patient care.St. Louis, Missouri: Saunders Elsevier.
• Principles Values and Beliefs. (2007, January 22). Retrieved February 11, 2009, Consumers advancing patient safety Web site: www.patientsafety.org/page/97014
• Shi, L., & Singh D. A. (2008). Delivering health care in America: a systems approach. Sudbury, Massachusetts: Jones and Bartlett.
• Wikipedia contributors, (2009). Independent (politician). In Wikipedia [Web]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Retrieved February 11, 2009, from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Independent_(politician)