Facility Spectrum

Medical care facilities provide each member of the society with qualitative health care. The institutions of medical health care may be private or public. However, each of them gives appropriate and efficacious treatment a person needs and guarantees safety, comfort, and convenience. Health care facilities comprising both relatively small medical clinics and complex research hospitals form a health care system in every state of America. Undoubtedly, a wide range of services includes various subsidiary institutions typical for a particular state, although generally adopted classification of the facilities exists. Therefore, this paper deals with the spectrum of health care facilities in the United States and people responsible for their proper functioning, identifies a purpose and objectives of such institutions, discusses their differences and similarities as well as the way they cooperate.

The system of health care facilities includes hospitals, nursing homes, outpatient clinics, and psychiatric facilities. Hospitals and hospital systems are essential for health care delivery. In the United States, there are approximately 5,800 hospitals divided into the community and other specialty hospitals comprising cancer and academic medical centers (Crane, 2009). Furthermore, more than 80 percent of the community hospitals are public (either state or local) (Crane, 2009). The fundamental objective of the hospital system is to provide health care to everyone, regardless of the ability to pay, and a person that is in charge of delivering services is an attending physician. It is a doctor who coordinates all the treatment of a person, fills prescriptions, and performs other necessary functions (Crane, 2009).

 

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Nursing homes are such institutions that provide therapeutic, rehabilitative, and preventive care service for those residents who are mostly aged and frail. Consequently, their purpose is to care for both convalescent and disabled people for quite a long period. The patients of the nursing homes do not need hospitalization but require permanent solicitude (Carr, 2014). As a rule, the sections of nursing homes are divided into skilled and intermediate nursing units. Intermediate care facilities have average nursing qualification while skilled nursing facilities demand high standards. Additionally, intermediate care is given to those who need help with daily activities and nursing supervision. In such case, a doctor usually requests such type of care, and a registered nurse delivers it. On the contrary, individuals who require 24-hour supervision receive skilled care. The director of nursing (DON) is in charge of this medical institution and responsible for the safety and quality of patient care (Carr, 2014).

Due to the decrease in the beds for inpatients, a trend in outpatient health care becomes popular. The purpose of an outpatient clinic is the same as hospitals have and lies in the provision of care to people who need it. However, outpatient clinics are medical centers without an overnight stay. They offer such services as prevention (including weight-loss and counseling programs), making diagnoses based on the lab tests, treatment (some surgeries), and alcohol and drug rehabilitation (WebMD, 2014). A chief physician is responsible for everything performed in their department and controls the work of junior staff who are usually well-trained and skillful.

The psychiatric health care facilities comprise psychiatric hospitals, neuropsychiatric nursing sections of general hospitals, facilities for drug and alcohol addiction treatment, and mental health clinics. Furthermore, psychiatric institutions may serve as a place for research. Therefore, the purpose of a psychiatric hospital is to provide patients with mental disorders with preventive, primary, and aftercare. Additionally, these clinics may be both inpatient and outpatient (Carr, 2011). A person responsible for giving qualitative health care is a skilled chief psychiatrist who can manage organizational issues.

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All the constituents of the health care facilities spectrum have their similarities and differences. Undoubtedly, each care facility contributes to the better health condition. All the hospitals except for outpatient clinics offer a 24-hour supervision; however, general hospitals, nursing homes, and psychiatric facilities are both outpatient and inpatient. Both psychiatric and outpatient clinics provide drug and alcohol treatment and rehabilitation. The next difference consists in the field of work. While nursing homes usually deal with older people with a certain range of illnesses, the psychiatric clinics are experienced only in the work with mentally ill patients. Additionally, the outpatient medical centers do not perform some procedures the hospitals do.

Since all health care facilities have the same purpose that lies in providing care to people, they are deeply interconnected. Frequently, the outpatient clinic is an independent department of the general hospital. Therefore, the hospital is divided into two substantial parts that cooperate with each other providing both an outpatient service and overnight supervision. As a matter of fact, psychiatric clinics also have a strong bond with other types of hospitals. While being a department of research, they train future specialists that later work for diverse medical institutions. Consequently, working together, the health care facilities provide services of better quality.

To conclude, the spectrum of health care facilities gives considerable solicitude to each member of the United States. These medical institutions, which may be private or public, are classified into general hospitals, or hospital systems, outpatient clinics, nursing homes, and psychiatric clinics. Their significant objective is to conduct various lab tests to make diagnoses and provide appropriate treatment to people that require it. In charge of each medical establishment is a qualified person experienced in both particular medical and managerial sphere. A chief physician has control over the junior staff members and coordinates their actions. All health care facilities have something in common but also differ from each other. The most striking difference lies in a 24-hour supervision that all the centers, except for the outpatient clinics, provide. Despite all distinctions, the medical facilities cooperate with each other that leads to better services.