For example, rather than paying providers (e.g., facilities, physicians, nonphysician clinicians) for each individual service that they provide, providers would accept a lump sum payment based on the clinical condition being treated for the entire
outpatient episode. Providers would then divide the payment among themselves, thereby limiting their incentive to do more.
Morbidity in the adult population is associated with significant duration of illness (average 31.8 days and 10.2 days per inpatient episode and
outpatient episode, respectively), and overall health care cost (approximately $11,000 to $51,000 and $1,000 to $5,600 per inpatient episode and
outpatient episode, respectively).
Moreover, adolescents who had only received one
outpatient episode were less likely to be in the low AOD/high controlled environment group (5% vs.
The wider clinical users are also expected to see benefits as Clinical Correspondence, Discharge Notifications and Nursing Documentation are now available seamlessly across all specialties covering A&E, inpatient and
outpatient episodes of care.
Among more recent product introductions, remote monitors will see the fastest growth in demand as they hold promising potential to save health care costs by reducing the need for hospitalizations and
outpatient episodes. Blood pressure and pulse monitors will provide mixed growth prospects.
However, consistent with my results, they found no significant differences in expenditures within outpatient episodes of medical care.
The mean expenditures of HMO outpatient episodes did not differ from either FFS cost-sharing or free FFS episodes of medical care in most diagnoses.
Outpatient episodes were added to the inpatient episodes to calculate patient volume.
These included number of medical staff (number of physician specialists + number of nurses + number of medical technicians + number of specialties); number of types of equipment (number of types of diagnostic test equipment + number of types of radiological diagnostic and therapeutic equipment + number of types of physical therapy equipment + number of types of surgical and treatment-related equipment); and patient volume (number of inpatient episodes + number of outpatient episodes).
The estimate is characterized by four types of health episodes: (1) those serious enough to involve a hospital stay if treatment is sought, (2) acute outpatient care episodes, (3) chronic
outpatient episodes, and (4) well care.