PROVIDE A RESPONSE TO THIS STUDENTS DISCUSSION POST:

Please analyze and evaluate the two most salient trends impacting the business operations and/or administration.

Are these trends uniquely different for ancillary services vs. inpatient services?

Where do you see the trends going in the future and why?

Two important trends impacting business operations in healthcare are the decrease in hospital admissions and reimbursement for billable services rendered. Hospital admission population has decreased in recent years due several factors. Ambulatory medical centers are now available with the capabilities to perform same day surgical procedures, which are not only convenient but more cost effective for patients due to less bed stays and/or no hospitalization. As for reimbursement for billable service, many medical facility are found to use fee-for-service verses bundled payment despite recent efforts to shift provider payment away from fee-for-service to valued based alternatives. Fee-for-Service is a billing method in which the physician payment is based on every individual service performed/rendered during that visit, unlike bundled payments which is a set (all-inclusive)fee based on the treatment/care provided per visit. In 2013, nearly 95% of patient visits were reimbursed in a fee-for-service fashion rather than bundled (Zuvekas & Cohen, 2016).

Although the trends mentioned above were pertaining to healthcare operations, it provides a similar impact to ancillary and inpatient services as well. Ancillary and inpatient services are reimbursable services and their operations are seriously impacted by any lack or increase of patient visits /volume in the hospital.

As medical facilities increase quality of care, lower cost, enhance capabilities and accessibility on the outpatient sector (i.e. ambulatory medical centers) their outpatient volume will increase and inpatient services will decrease to necessary hospitalization services only. Efforts have been initiated toward valued based care. In 2015, the U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Sylvia Burwell announced tying 90% of tradition Medicare payment to valued based care by 2018 (Cryts, 2016). It may take some time, but eventually more healthcare facilities will shift to bundle payment verse fee-for-service as it will be more cost efficient for the payer verse the provider