Supporting Efficiency in Health Care at the Community Level

Ronald Lagoe,Shelly Littau

doi:10.4236/crcm.2021.108027

Abstract

Health care providers and payers in the United States have worked to provide care at reasonable costs. This has frequently been a challenge. For example, the COVID epidemic has generated large expenditures with limited efforts to contain costs. Based on the experiences of providers in Syracuse, New York, this study suggested that realistic approaches are necessary to improve health care efficiency. It described three programs that have improved utilization at the community level. They have included the diversion of large numbers of ambulances that directed patients to emergency departments where care was most available. They have also involved length of stay reduction that saved thousands of patient days and made additional inpatient care available in hospitals. They have also included the use of ambulatory surgery to reduce the need for inpatient care. The data from these programs demonstrated that efforts to improve the efficiency of care can reduce inpatient utilization and improve outcomes. The Syracuse hospitals have used them to make additional capacity available for COVID patients and other populations.

Highlights

In the United States, the health care system has been a major part of society for more than fifty years
Based on the experiences of providers in Syracuse, New York, this study suggested that realistic approaches are necessary to improve health care efficiency
This study reviewed programs that have focused on improving the utilization of health care programs in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York

Summary

Introduction

In the United States, the health care system has been a major part of society for more than fifty years. The consciousness of the importance of the health care system has been reflected in daily media reports [1] [3] Amid this level of interest, attention to health care costs and efficiency has been somewhat lacking. Billions of dollars have been devoted to the provision of care in hospitals and other providers, without a large amount of attention to the efficiency of these expenditures [4] [5] [6]. It appears that epidemics and other clinical conditions will continue to challenge health care systems. This study included examples of programs that have been employed to meet these challenges at the community level [6] [7]

Population

Method

Results

Discussions