Inpatient Care

Hospitals make money by admitting patients, performing surgical and surgery-related services, and discharging the person as quickly as possible. Shorter lengths of stay means higher turnover for revenue generation.  But several factors have impinged on this model—decline in elective admissions, healthcare reform, increase in observational status, movement toward outpatient services, less invasive surgical and imaging technologies, transition from fee-for-service to fee-for-value payment, and declining birth rates.  This certainly amounts to a transition for the traditional community hospital, if not its ultimate decline as we know it.  MORE

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