Acute Care Hospital Case Study
Stage 1 – Understanding
There are 42 acute care hospitals in the state of Colorado. The complication rate for specific procedures varies greatly from hospital to hospital. Sepsis mortality and morbidity rates also range from low of about 8% to high of just over 39%. No one hospital provides the best care for all conditions and procedures.
Several problems may account for these discrepancies:
• Small rural hospitals may have limited staff that is not certified in all specialties.
• Smaller hospitals may not attract the best practitioners.
• The number of procedures performed varies from facility to facility.
• Best demonstrated practice compliance varies from facility to facility.
• A lower volume of procedures performed does not enable staff to gain proficiency.
Providing a broad range of medical specialties may not be possible for a small hospital. One option is for the hospital to provide all services necessary. However, this is not financially feasible due to low patient volumes. Another option is for a patient to travel considerable distances, often several …show more content…
hours by car, in order to obtain the necessary medical service. Compounding the distance problem is that of finding a facility that addresses the problems stated above.
Stage 2 – Imagination
Depending on the severity of the medical condition, the patient may not seek care for a less critical condition, which would not be in their best interest.
Another factor to be considered is the length of treatment time for a particular procedure. Lengthier procedures may require a patient to make multiple trips or temporarily relocate, both of which can make it difficult to maintain a job and/or receive family support.
Most patients considering a medical procedure do not have the expertise or resources to research the best hospital and/or physicians for their procedure. Additionally, having a medical procedure, even a non-critical one, is often in a high-stress situation, thereby exacerbating the problem of finding the best care. The patient would benefit from a well-informed, knowledgeable source of information guiding them to the best care with the best potential outcome at the most effective
cost.
Actual costs for procedures vary widely as shown in the attachment. For example, three large Colorado hospitals have considerably different complication rates for hip surgery and sepsis mortality, and although the patient co-pay is the same, the overall procedure cost also varies. A patient might mistakenly believe that the most costly procedure might be the “best” procedure. In this case, however, the hospital showing the lowest complication rate and sepsis mortality actually has the lowest overall cost. This is not always the case; the best care with the most effective outcome may not always the lowest cost. A service providing these insights and data to a patient to ensure the best outcome for a particular procedure would be extremely useful. If such a service could also manage the transportation and coordinate the other intrinsic logistics for the patient’s medical treatment, it would be invaluable to help alleviate concerns during such a stressful period.
There are 42 acute care hospitals in the state of Colorado. The complication rate for specific procedures varies greatly from hospital to hospital. Sepsis mortality and morbidity rates also range from low of about 8% to high of just over 39%. No one hospital provides the best care for all conditions and procedures.
Several problems may account for these discrepancies:
• Small rural hospitals may have limited staff that is not certified in all specialties.
• Smaller hospitals may not attract the best practitioners.
• The number of procedures performed varies from facility to facility.
• Best demonstrated practice compliance varies from facility to facility.
• A lower volume of procedures performed does not enable staff to gain proficiency.
Providing a broad range of medical specialties may not be possible for a small hospital. One option is for the hospital to provide all services necessary. However, this is not financially feasible due to low patient volumes. Another option is for a patient to travel considerable distances, often several …show more content…
hours by car, in order to obtain the necessary medical service. Compounding the distance problem is that of finding a facility that addresses the problems stated above.
Stage 2 – Imagination
Depending on the severity of the medical condition, the patient may not seek care for a less critical condition, which would not be in their best interest.
Another factor to be considered is the length of treatment time for a particular procedure. Lengthier procedures may require a patient to make multiple trips or temporarily relocate, both of which can make it difficult to maintain a job and/or receive family support.
Most patients considering a medical procedure do not have the expertise or resources to research the best hospital and/or physicians for their procedure. Additionally, having a medical procedure, even a non-critical one, is often in a high-stress situation, thereby exacerbating the problem of finding the best care. The patient would benefit from a well-informed, knowledgeable source of information guiding them to the best care with the best potential outcome at the most effective
cost.
Actual costs for procedures vary widely as shown in the attachment. For example, three large Colorado hospitals have considerably different complication rates for hip surgery and sepsis mortality, and although the patient co-pay is the same, the overall procedure cost also varies. A patient might mistakenly believe that the most costly procedure might be the “best” procedure. In this case, however, the hospital showing the lowest complication rate and sepsis mortality actually has the lowest overall cost. This is not always the case; the best care with the most effective outcome may not always the lowest cost. A service providing these insights and data to a patient to ensure the best outcome for a particular procedure would be extremely useful. If such a service could also manage the transportation and coordinate the other intrinsic logistics for the patient’s medical treatment, it would be invaluable to help alleviate concerns during such a stressful period.