Ambulatory services are medical care services provided on an outpatient basis and include consultation, observation, intervention, diagnosis, treatment, home healthcare, and several other healthcare services. These services also include many advanced medical technologies and procedures even when provided outside of clinics or hospitals. In an ambulatory care setting, a patient who comes for a treatment is not admitted as inpatient in the hospital and typically returns home the same day. Shorter wait time, convenient location, overall lowered costs, targeted service, and improved privacy are some of the major advantages of ambulatory services. Such care settings can either be outside of a hospital or in a department within a hospital and it include:

• Surgical Specialty
• Emergency Departments
• Outpatient Departments
• Medical Specialty
• Primary Care Offices
  • Orthopedics
  • Plastic Surgery
  • Ophthalmology
  • Spinal Injections
  • Gastroenterology
  • Others

Surgical Specialty

Ambulatory Surgery Centers or ASCs are advanced healthcare facilities that offer same-day surgical care services such as diagnostic and preventive treatments without having to admit the patients. Ambulatory surgery facilities have changed the outpatient experience for a number of patients across the world by offering them with a more suitable option than hospital-based outpatient services. These facilities offer a convenient environment and inexpensive medical services that many hospitals can’t offer.

Recent developments in the field of ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) include:

• Missoula Bone & Joint Surgery Center Expansion Approved by Council

As the Missoula City Council approved expansion of Missoula Bone & Joint, the officials promised reduced costs, more one-on-one attention, highest-quality healthcare services, and shorter wait times. The new facility will include a huge ambulatory surgery center

• New Ambulatory Care Center by Bozeman Health

Bozeman Health recently announced the acquisition of three commercial land parcels of nearly 5 acres for building a new outpatient care service center. This new campus development will include a partnership with United Surgical Partners International or USPI and several local physicians. This new facility will include a huge ambulatory care center that will further include community physician offices, an ambulatory surgery center, convenience care, and Bozeman Health Family Medicine and Pediatric clinics, and urgent care. The new ambulatory surgery facility will also replace the existing Same-Day Surgery Center.

Emergency Departments

Ambulatory emergency care or AEC is a service that offers same day emergency care to the patients in hospital. In an emergency department, patients are assessed, diagnosed, and treated the same day without having to get admitted overnight in the hospital. In an AEC healthcare setting, a variety of common conditions are treated including deep vein thrombosis, headaches, diabetes, and cellulitis.

Recent developments in the field of emergency ambulatory services include:

• Vituity’s Innovative Solutions for Emergency Departments

Vituity, a top physician-owned care delivery firm, recently presented the Citrus Valley Health Partners or CVHP with its Practice of the Year Award of 2017 in recognition of the CVHP’s drastic improvements in patient satisfaction and patient care throughput, as well as a successful implementation of medical integration initiatives and programs.

• Cone Health to Build a Stand-alone Emergency Department in US

Cone Health is aiming at building a huge, stand-alone emergency care department near Greensboro Urban Loop in United States. The company hopes to build the new emergency department and imaging services facility by 2020 near the Urban Loop at the Battleground Avenue and Drawbridge Parkway intersection. If approved by North Carolina health officials, the 17-room healthcare setting will cover around 8 acres. The new emergency department will also provide an alternative to the emergency care facilities at Wesley Long and Moses Cone hospitals in central Greensboro.

Outpatient Departments

An outpatient healthcare service is a medical service where contracted or on-staff physicians and several other healthcare experts treat patients who are sick or injured but do not need overnight care service or whose health issues are not severe enough to be treated in an emergency department. An outpatient healthcare department includes a wide array of services such as primary care, which is usually provided at a clinic or in a doctor’s office. Some outpatient departments even specialize in specific fields of medicine, such as oncology, urology, orthopedics, ophthalmology, spinal injections, gastroenterology, and so on.

Recent developments in the field of outpatient ambulatory departments include:

• New Holistic Services for Orthopedic Conditions at Bone & Joint Center

Bone & Joint Center treats a wide range of orthopaedic ailments and provides various services right from diagnostics to physiotherapy. With a dedicated team of experts, the Center offers various outpatient services for foot, spine, and ankle injuries, fractures, and so on. According to the officials at the Bone & Joint Center, their facility is fully equipped with advanced technologies and thus, their services drastically reduce waiting period for its patients.

• UT Physicians’ New PM&R Clinic in Southwest Houston

The newly opened clinic offers outpatient comprehensive services to patients with sports-related injuries, spinal pain, joint pain, etc. The services at this clinic include a physical assessment, diagnostic test along with review, electromyography, return-to-play programs for sportsmen, regenerative medicine, and several others.

How is ambulatory care shaping healthcare?

A lot of hospitals are diverting many of their services to outpatient facilities since ambulatory care is expanding rapidly due to rising awareness levels about their advantages. Another major factor behind its rapid growth is the fact that it is a cost-effective measure for hospitals. Inpatient hospital stays are costly and require a lot of resources but ambulatory care services offer a cheaper alternative while providing the same quality services at a fraction of the price, as well as time. Due to the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, hospitals have been forced to cut prices and make their services affordable and easier to access for all. Ambulatory services offer a great solution to both of these as hospitals turn to outpatient services.

What are the Market Trends for Ambulatory Care Services?

Consumers are increasingly turning toward ambulatory services due to its cost-effectiveness, greater levels of convenience, and lower-infection rates than inpatient hospital care. The healthcare sector is slowly shifting toward a value-based payment model and thus ambulatory care services are experiencing a rapid growth in many developed, as well as developing regions. Asia Pacific, in particular, would have the fastest growth over the next few years on account of high healthcare expenditure, rising cases of chronic diseases, and growing awareness regarding ambulatory services. In addition, globally increasing government spending for such care services along with supportive initiatives to provide team-based primary care is also encouraging the expansion demand for ambulatory care.

Prominent Ambulatory Care Service Providers

Key companies in the field of ambulatory services include AmSurg Corp.; Surgery Partners; Symbion Pty. Ltd.; Aspen Healthcare; IntergraMed America Inc.; and Terveystalo Healthcare Oyj. Most of these companies are in a process of acquiring various other providers in order to offer comprehensive and broader services. For example, in 2015, AmSurg Corporation’s Physician Services division acquired Premier Emergency Medical Specialists or PEMS. With this acquisition AmSurg entered the field of emergency medicine specialty. In addition, in the same year, Plano’s US Renal and DSI Renal came together to provide a wide range of renal services operating in almost 300 outpatient care clinics, 142 home dialysis programs, and around 26 acute care hospital contracts.

Article by Partha

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