HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper

Health care facilities are places that provide health care. They include hospitals, clinics, outpatient care centers, and specialized care centers, such as birthing centers and psychiatric care centers. When it comes to the workload of a health facility, it is often used to indicate its size.

HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper

Large health facilities are those with a greater patient load as well. What will be discussed about health care facilities are the different spectrums that exist in the United States, the purpose and goals of each of the different types, how the different types of facilities work together, analyzing who is responsible for the oversights of the facilities and analyzing the similarities and differences of the facilities.

In the United States, the health care facilities of today has undergone tremendous change, even over the relatively short period of the past decade. New and emerging technologies, including drugs, devices, procedures, tests, and imaging machinery, have changed patterns of care and sites where care is provided. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Health Care Survey (NHCS), the number of persons 65 years of age and over increased from about 31 million to about 34 million between 1990 and 2000. The percentage of the population aged 65 and over remained fairly constant during this period— about 12.4 percent (chart 3).

The number of the oldest old, aged 85 and over, increased from about 3 million to over 4 million in 2000, or from 1.2 percent to 1.5 percent. In short, although the number of elderly increased during this decade, it did not increase at a very rapid rate (19). Baby boomers are still under age 65, but as they age, both the number and percentage of elderly in the United States will begin to accelerate rapidly. However, baby boomers are currently in their forties and fifties and are beginning to experience the onset of chronic conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper

When it comes to health care facilities in the United States, there are different types and each have their separate goals and purposes. Examples of them are hospitals. A hospital’s primary task is to provide short-term care for people with severe health issues resulting from injury, disease or genetic issues. They are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, hospitals bring together physicians in assorted specialties, a highly skilled nursing staff, various medical technicians, health care administrators. Nursing homes are designed for patients who require constant care but do not need to be hospitalized and cannot be cared for at home. They have medical personal that are onsite 24 hours a day. A physician, skilled nurses and therapists are on staff to oversee and provide medical care.

It is important for the patients that health care facilities work together to assure that the patients are taken care of. It can help the facilities as well. Especially when it comes to weather issues. Hurricane Isaac in August of last year helped spur healthcare community players in the New Orleans area to work more collaboratively, said Dr. Karen DeSalvo, health commissioner for the city. The storm caused a five-day power outage that demonstrated the region needed a better way to track people who might need special assistance or be moved into the city’s medical special needs shelter (Barr, 2013 HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper)

With some many facilities within the health care system, there has to be someone in charge of the oversight of them. Medical and health services managers and directors have a number of duties that involve the oversight and smooth operations of a healthcare facility such as a hospital, nursing home, skilled living center or long-term care facility. The professionals of these facilities go by different titles including healthcare facility director, health services manager and healthcare administrator, among others, depending on the kind of facility they work for and the specifics of their job description. Healthcare managers act as the official spokesperson for their facility when it comes to media relations.

A director of a healthcare facility is responsible for the handling of business decisions and strategic planning of the organization. He or she is responsible for ensuring that the goals of the practitioners, the facility vision, patient needs and budgetary constraints are all in alignment. Managers of healthcare networks collaborate with a number of key stakeholders. They work with leaders of the medical staff and is of high priority in order to coordinate the daily activities of the facility.

There are similarities and differences in the health care facilities. The similarities in the health care facilities are the same in the hospitals as they are in the nursing homes. They provide health insurance coverage for inpatient and outpatient hospital care, having very limited nursing home services and providing some home health services. The difference is that both administrators are asked to oversee a staff, and they will work with their staff to ensure proper procedures are used in each interaction with patients. The patients are reached on differing levels between the two facilities and it is important someone who is interested in management knows the stark difference between dealing with patients and their workers.

Health care systems should be undertaken in the same spirit of continuous improvement and renewal that has so often been the keystone of success in America. Healthcare can become more expensive as older people make up larger proportions of countries’ populations. The delivery of health care in the home becomes more common, more coherent strategies and effective policies are needed to support the workforce of individuals who provide this care. HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper

References for the HCS/457 Facility Spectrum Paper

Health Care In America: Trends In Utilization (2003). Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/misc/healthcare.pdf

Barr, P. (2013). Combining efforts: Hospitals, health departments team up. Retrieved from https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130323/MAGAZINE/303239975

What Does a Director of a Healthcare Facility Do? (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.healthcare-administration-degree.net/faq/director-healthcare-facility-2/