Increase in Cost of Outpatient Hospital Services

Increase in Cost of Outpatient Hospital Services

Hospital service costs for outpatients are on the rise, and the most significant shift in price has been witnessed in the past five years. The increased price for outpatient services can be attributed to the increased demand for hospital services and the service cost per unit (Lores et al., 2021). For convenience and accessibility, patients seek outpatient services to cut costs. General inflation in the economy and government policies are also associated with the increased cost of healthcare services. Government policies, like incentives, are more focused on enhancing inpatient services, leaving outpatient services catered for by the citizens. As professionals push for increased wages and the value of equipment increases with technological advancement, the facilities and the government are finding it necessary to increase the costs to meet the increased cost of delivering the services.

There is a general decline in the rate of inpatient care with a counter increase in demand for hospital services. More individuals seek outpatient services as compared to inpatient services. Therefore, the government and facilities are focused on constraining cost growth associated with patients’ services by creating incentives to help shift from inpatient services to outpatient services where the demand is higher, resulting in increased cost of outpatient services. Generally, financial incentives target inpatient services at the expense of outpatient services, making most of the costs associated with outpatient services payable out of pocket by patients, leading to increased costs.

I have witnessed an increase in the cost of imaging services while taking one of my relatives to a facility to get diagnosed with Appendicitis. The total cost for the whole process is about $500, an increase from previous sessions. From the perspective of a healthcare leader, the increased cost can be associated with the increased demand for outpatient imaging services. Patients are more interested in imaging services offered for outpatients than inpatients because they assume outpatient imaging to be more convenient, accessible, and less costly. However, facility managers increase outpatient imaging based on technological advancement, which increases the cost of acquiring and maintaining the equipment, thus increasing the cost of delivering services. To address the increase in the price of purchasing and preserving advanced technologies, they increase the costs of providing service to meet the expenses so that revenues are unaffected.

Another reason for increasing the cost of outpatient imaging services is the reduced incentives by the government. The government has reduced incentives offered for outpatient services, leaving the burden of meeting the costs of service to citizens, which necessitates increasing the price of services (Berenson & Murray, 2022). Increased demand for CT scans also leads to a rise in the price of imaging. The facility can limit the services to only necessary and crucial cases and reduce congestion. However, the facility can implement countermeasures to reduce the cost of imaging, like increasing the number of professionals and equipment in the facility. Subsequently, growing equipment and professionals can reduce pressure on the services to necessitate decreasing costs.

Future recommendations that can effectively prevent further increases in the cost of imaging in outpatient facilities include introducing a validated and standardized report template for ultrasonography. The approach will reduce exposure time to the imaging technology and minimize congestion, facilitating imaging for more patients within shorter periods. Reducing exposure time can effectively reduce costs because the facility can charge less for more patients simultaneously rather than charging fewer patients for the time spent on the technology. A standardized report template for ultrasound can be designed for secondary signs to eliminate the need for non-diagnostic exams to reduce the utilization of the CT scan (Unsdorfer et al., 2021).

References

Lores, T., Goess, C., Mikocka-Walus, A., Collins, K. L., Burke, A. L., Chur-Hansen, A., & Andrews, J. M. (2021). Integrated psychological care reduces health care costs at a hospital-based inflammatory bowel disease service. Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology, 19(1), 96-103.

Berenson, R. A., & Murray, R. B. (2022). How Price Regulation Is Needed To Advance Market Competition: Study examines the need for price regulation in US health care. Health Affairs, 41(1), 26-34.

Unsdorfer, K. M., An, J. Y., & Binkovitz, L. A. (2021). Pediatric appendiceal ultrasound: maintaining accuracy, increasing determinacy, and improving clinical outcomes following the introduction of a standardized reporting template. Pediatric radiology, 51(2), 265-272.

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Primary Response: Within the Discussion Board area, write 400–600 words that respond to the following questions with your thoughts, ideas, and comments. This will be the foundation for future discussions with your classmates. Be substantive and clear, and use examples to reinforce your concepts.

Increase in Cost of Outpatient Hospital Services

For this Discussion Board, please complete the following:

Healthcare spending in the United States has continued to increase over the past several decades at a rate far exceeding that of other nations. People have seen these increases in everything, from the cost of insurance premiums to the costs of drug prices and office visits increasing. Please review the NHE fact sheet to familiarize yourself with the many areas and ways costs and spending are growing.

Discuss 1 area where you or someone close to you have seen these cost increases.
Examine these increased costs from the perspective of the leader of a healthcare organization. Consider the following:
Why do you feel there was an increase in the price?
What, if anything, could have been done to react to the rise in prices and decrease their impact on the organization?
What can the organization do to help avoid these increases in the future?
Responses to Other Students: Respond to at least two classmates with a 100-200 word reply about their Primary Task Response regarding items you found compelling and enlightening. To help you with your discussion, please consider the following questions:

What did you learn from your classmate’s posting? What additional questions do you have after reading the posting?
What clarification do you need regarding the posting?
What differences or similarities do you see between your posting and classmates?
Please use your text, Web resources, and all course materials to assist with your assignment.