Health Science and Medicine Discussions - Essay Example

Before evaluating one aspect of outpatient health services, it is important to first understand the SPO framework that will be used in the evaluation. SPO stands for “Structure”, “process” and “outcome”. The structure entails the organization's attributes which include: culture, incentives, information management, physical characteristics, management executive leadership, and the responsibilities of the board of management. The process encompasses diagnosis and treatment, while outcomes illustrate the service quality, morbidity, and mortality rates (Glickman et al. 341-348). With this in mind, hospital-based outpatient health services will be discussed in the context of the SPO framework.

The structure of outpatient hospital-based services in the United States mainly includes outpatient departments (OPDs) and physician offices. The process of care delivery in outpatient hospital-based services pertains to diagnosis, medical counseling, and screening services like mammograms and scans. Downsizing of hospitals is attributed to the uncertainty of economic situations and stiff competition hence organizations aim at reducing their cost (Byers 1-39). Implementing the SPO framework, the structures that change in the wake of downsizing are the management structure, the employee turnover, the quality of services provided to the patients, the satisfaction of the patients, and the competitive edge of the hospital following downsizing.

Processes affected by downsizing are varied; the bed capacity reduces while the competence of the staff increases since the workload is less. The outcomes are multifaceted; the hospital is competitively strategically placed, and patient satisfaction is experienced. In contrast, there is less employee job satisfaction as there is no security of employment tenure (Needleman et al. 1). Discussion 3 Donabedian model will be implemented in the evaluation of the impact that one aspect of managed care has on healthcare in the United States.

Managed care was a movement established by the United States aimed at improving the efficiency and outcome of medical care by controlling the escalating cost of health care services. One aspect of managed care is propelled towards reducing the health care cost. This has changed how health care is delivered in the United States since the structure is aimed at reducing the number of hospital admissions, and their length of stay, and enhancing health promotion activities (Anderson et al. 89-105). The process by which care is developed in the managed care program is by the government implementing enrollment plans to which the citizens subscribe.

The outcome of managed care in the United States was aimed at enhancing the efficiency of the health care system by reducing health care costs, by hampering the utilization of healthcare services. This was achieved by enhancing positive behavior change (Lagoe et al. 1). Discussion 4 This discussion is aimed at outlining the role played by long-term care services and their alternatives, bearing its roots on an outpatient service using the SPO framework. Long-term care is defined as the provision of services aimed at compensating, minimizing, and rehabilitating for the independent loss of mental and physical functioning among the elderly.

It entails assisting them to effectively and efficiently perform activities of daily living. There are a variety of long-term care health services like nursing homes, assisted homes for the elderly, hospice, community-based care, and homes for the mentally challenged elderly. (Stone 1-83). Hospice will be evaluated using the SPO framework in its capacity as a long-term care service in the United States. To begin with, the structure of hospice has an approximation of 3200 programs in the United States, its clients being 1 million elderly Americans.

Consequently, the structure involves a hospice care team comprising of nurses, social workers, aides, volunteers, therapists, pastors, and physicians. The process involves the provision of mental, physical, spiritual, and services at the elderly people's residence that address comfort issues. Examples of activities involve grooming, continence training, physiotherapy, visual therapy, stability, reduced falls exercise, and feeding strategies. The outcomes of hospice are aimed at enlightening the American community on the availability of its services and giving continued palliative during the end days of the elderly (Kinsella 1).