Inpatient to Outpatient Services

Over time many procedures have shifted from inpatient services to outpatient services. This shift has gone far enough to prompt CMS to define certain procedures as inpatient only under the APC classification process. What’s an example of a shift from inpatient to outpatient services and how this process affect healthcare? Does this process create or hamper perfect competition?
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Interesting question! Let’s take a closer look at the two questions and healthcare literature, which you can then draw on for your final 200-page paper.

RESPONSE:

1. What’s an example of a shift from inpatient to outpatient services and how this process affect healthcare?

Outpatient services are medical procedures, surgeries, or tests that are done in a qualified medical center without the need for an overnight stay. Increasingly, more medical procedures are being offered in qualified outpatient service centers. A recent study indicated that almost 88 million people per year in the United States alone sought care in outpatient facilities (http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/pubs/pubd/ad/331-340). For many of us, this means less time away from work and other commitments, as numerous procedures and tests can now be completed in just a few hours instead of having to spend days in a hospital (http://health.msn.com/encyclopedia/healthtopics/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100097362).

Types of outpatient treatment that have moved from inpatients vary but can include services such as some types of outpatient surgery, chemotherapy treatment and cardiac catheterization. For instance, …