Literature Review on Reduction of Admission at Hospital (Essay Sample)

Literature Review on Reduction of Admission at Hospital
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Literature Review on Reduction of Admission at Hospital
Over the past few years, there has been a rapid increase in the number of emergent hospital admissions which are unplanned. Ability to reduce and prevent such admissions in hospitals is a good indicator of a health system that is willing to optimize its service delivery to the patients. This paper will therefore present different literature reviews in order to analyze some of the major questions that have been of concern among different researchers.
Why is it necessary to reduce hospital admissions?
In the research article by Bowers and Cheyne (2016), cost and efficiency are considered as the main reasons why hospital admission should be minimized. The investigation was based on how hospital management in the United Kingdom has been facing immense pressure to reduce accommodation capacity as well as duration spent by patients in the hospital in order to improve quality of healthcare as well as save on operational cost. Results indicate that reducing patient admission by just a duration of six hours can save operation cost for almost ten percent and this conforms with the main hypothesis that such a reduction has financial benefits. However, the article does not consider key reasons why hospitals at times decide to keep patients for long despite the associated benefits of reducing the admissions.
What actions could be taken to reduce emergency admissions?
The first action as presented in a research article by Fam (2014), is to ensure there are some physicians who engage in offering primary care services. The rationale behind this proposition is the feeling that many patients end up being admitted in the hospital since they could not get in touch with their physicians at the appropriate time. The results of the study show providing more physicians especially at family levels greatly lowers admission rate and this related to the hypothesis that when patients are able to easily seek appointments with physicians, hospitals can be decongested. This is because majority of the complications that attract admission such as heart failure can still be treated from home.
In the next action which is grounded on a prospective case, we consider the views of a research article by New (2014), that by creating referral clinics whereby those patients who require emergent considerations such as spinal rehabilitation are directed then hospital admission will be minimized. Results from the study support the hypothesis since it indicates that in the referral clinics patients can even engage in physical exercises thereby reducing their healing period (New, 2014). One of the weakness in the research is that it focused on a specific disease yet there are numerous health complications that lead to admission.
Also, in another research work by Hobbs, et al. (2016), it is noted that another current trend that has turned effective in minimizing hospital admission is telemedicine whereby patients receive medical services through telecommunication. Results from the study shows that there are more than two hundred telemedicine networks in the United States especially those with heart failure (Hobbs, et al., 2016). One strength about information provided in the article is that emphasizes on the need for a follow up by the physicians in in order to ensure patients follow the specified instruction. This reduces admission rate since patients are already educated on how to take charge of their health even at home.
How can we predict avoidable hospital admissions?
A research paper by Riolfi, et al. (2014), stipulates that age is the best predictor of avoidable hospital admissions. This is because older people usually develop health conditions such as cardiovascular and respiratory infections, which medical specialists can deal with through home care services. In support to the finding we also consider statistical facts from a research article by Bekker and Koeleman (2011), which show that in the United States almost seventy five ...