Ambulatory Care in Integrated Delivery Systems

From The Critics

Reviewer: John F. Rotilie, MD(Aspen Medical Group)
Description: This book is a text-like synopsis of ambulatory care in the delivery of healthcare, its current trends and managerial issues, different models and stages of evolution, and likely future directions.
Purpose: The purpose is to summarize the topic of ambulatory care in integrated care systems.
Audience: The audience is healthcare managers and consultants involved in strategy and operations in developing integrated care systems.
Features: This book outlines the trends and underlying causes for the emerging importance of ambulatory care. It discusses methods of strategic analysis, planning and development, organization, and structure for ambulatory care. Case study models illustrate different possibilities and pitfalls in a variety of systems in different stages of integration.
Assessment: The author posits that cost pressures and technology are driving the focus of healthcare delivery away from hospital care and towards ambulatory care. The sections on planning and strategic analysis seem a bit academic, but the summary of different possible structures is concise, and useful for helping one compare and contrast the different models. The author's vision of ambulatory care as the "retail" arm of healthcare delivery in the future, consisting of a mixture of wellness, prevention, illness care, and "alternative" and "complementary" care is convincing — and worrisome. (What is to prevent the consumer/marketing focus from overwhelming the fledgling scientific basis of care?) The author could have provided more detail about how a well integrated ambulatory care system would better serve the individual patient. Healthcare leaders and the public seem to need more of a picture of what a well-designed outpatient clinical experience should be like. Will there be "one stop shopping" with all necessary consultations and testing perhaps available the same day? More futuristic details could make the reader more committed to healthcare system integration.

John F. Rotilie

This book is a text-like synopsis of ambulatory care in the delivery of healthcare, its current trends and managerial issues, different models and stages of evolution, and likely future directions. The purpose is to summarize the topic of ambulatory care in integrated care systems. The audience is healthcare managers and consultants involved in strategy and operations in developing integrated care systems. This book outlines the trends and underlying causes for the emerging importance of ambulatory care. It discusses methods of strategic analysis, planning and development, organization, and structure for ambulatory care. Case study models illustrate different possibilities and pitfalls in a variety of systems in different stages of integration. The author posits that cost pressures and technology are driving the focus of healthcare delivery away from hospital care and towards ambulatory care. The sections on planning and strategic analysis seem a bit academic, but the summary of different possible structures is concise, and useful for helping one compare and contrast the different models. The author's vision of ambulatory care as the "retail" arm of healthcare delivery in the future, consisting of a mixture of wellness, prevention, illness care, and "alternative" and "complementary" care is convincing -- and worrisome. (What is to prevent the consumer/marketing focus from overwhelming the fledgling scientific basis of care?) The author could have provided more detail about how a well integrated ambulatory care system would better serve the individual patient. Healthcare leaders and the public seem to need more of a picture of what a well-designed outpatient clinical experienceshould be like. Will there be "one stop shopping" with all necessary consultations and testing perhaps available the same day? More futuristic details could make the reader more committed to healthcare system integration.

Booknews

Helps health care executives prepare for the current and future challenges of ambulatory care planning, development, and management. Examines trends in financing, technology, and consumer demands fueling the ambulatory care revolution, and explores the role of ambulatory care in integrated delivery systems, offering practical strategies for taking advantage of the restructuring of the health care delivery system. Includes five case studies. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

3 Stars from Doody