Ambulatory Services And The Reason Behind Their Popularity

By Cornelia White


Many healthcare organizations worldwide provide their services to patients as inpatient or outpatients. While inpatient is term reserved for patients who stays within the premises on the duration of treatment, out patients not need to stay in such health institutions. Ambulatory services are those services that are usually given to the outpatients. Ambulatory care is defined by most medical journals as those treatment or even acute care provided on outpatient basis.

Ambulatory service clinics are being set aside by the majority of hospitals as most patients are treated on the outpatient categories. Huge budgets are even set for these clinics with specialties from all the medical fields including neurologists, oncologists, gynecologists, orthopedics among others all coming together under these clinics.

The modern approach involves assigning a specific nurse to each of the patient on their first visit. That primary nurse is in charge of the whole recovery process of a patient. He/she coordinates the treatment plan of a patient, visiting time, stores and updates all the patient records and liaises with the medical professionals who are to treat the patient. It is this nurse who will be answering most of the questions that the patient may ask and guide the patient throughout the treatment process.

In such clinics, the ambulatory services will be provided is a team approach where professional from all departments make a team to take care of the patients. Just like it happens in surgery, the best practice involves a team of experienced and specialized doctors from different specialties, nurses, both the occupational and the physical therapists, social workers and all other related personnel combining efforts in patient treatment. In such an environment, the patient is always assured of best of treatments that he can get.

Many insurance companies and even the public health covers usually provide for ambulatory services. This therefore make such medical care very affordable and available to laterally all patients with the health condition and the nature of disease or injury being the determinant is the treatment will be done inpatient or through outpatient means.

Some of the treatments that are now common with ambulatory care include sport related injuries, back pains that either chronic or acute, arthritis, orthotic, physical rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, orthopedics, osteoporosis, genetic disorders, rheumatology, wound healing, post surgery treatments, gynecology treatments, and scoliosis just to mention a few.

The success of this procedure however lies in the ability of the medical personnel to coordinated proper monitoring and treatment plan. Majority of major health institutions are now dedicating their budget and staff to this clinics are they are considered to be more cost effective and allows for faster expansion of the medical institution. Hospitals for instances are now setting up clinics in close proximity to their patient residences for much quicker and easier access in addition to frequent visits conducted by their doctors to regional offices all to promote outpatient services.

The bottom line is that ambulatory services are the preferred alternative as they cut operational costs, reduces congestion in hospitals while at the same time increases revenues for the medical institutions.




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