Hospital Outpatient Visits Drop for First Time; Long History of Similar Inpatient Declines

It is well documented that hospital inpatient admissions have been declining for the past thirty years (see:The Case of the"Disappearing Hospital Beds"; Implications for Pathologists;Inpatient Admissions Decreasing; Implications for Hospital-Based Labs). Now comes news of a decline in outpatient visits (see:Outpatient Visits to Hospitals Decline Year-to-Year for First Time in 35 Years) Below is an excerpt from the article:Thanks to the popularity of urgent care clinics and other non-hospital-based ambulatory care providers, the year-over-year growth in the number of hospital outpatient visits has been on the decline for decades....[F]or the first time since 1983, outpatient visits fell below the previous year among more than 6,000 hospitals surveyed by the American Hospital Association (AHA). This is an important event, because anything that affects a hospital ’s revenue also affects that hospital’s medical laboratories and everyone connected to it.The decline, according to the AHA, is primarily due to decreasing visits to hospital emergency rooms. ERs provide significant revenue for hospitals. Fewer ER visits means less clinical laboratory test ordering, fewer image study requests, and may mean lower financial revenues overall....[P]atients are increasingly gravitating toward the countless disruptors that tout more convenient, cheaper options for primary care, urgent care, and even emergency care....“We’re pivoting to a new business model in healthcar...
Source: Lab Soft News - Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Tags: Cost of Healthcare Health Wearable Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Quality of Care Telemedicine Source Type: blogs