Outpatient Care in a Medical Facility - Essay Example

Ambulatory patients usually have procedures carried out such as being screened for esophageal or colorectal cancer and normally stay in that area for only a couple of hours or not even that if they are, for instance, having a mole removed or receiving a pain injection.  Day patients usually have invasive care such as for example, gall bladder surgery and may become inpatients if the situation warrants it.

            Decades ago gall bladder surgery would have required a week’s hospital stay.  Nowadays, however, only three small incisions are made.  Such improvements in surgical technique and anaesthesiology have reduced the need for overnight hospital stays as have improvements in drug treatments which make it possible for most patients with pneumonia to recover at home where rest and care are often better.  This reduces the cost of medical care and frees up beds.  Cost is an important factor in the balance shift between inpatients and outpatients.