Healthcare Environments Overview

Healthcare Environments: A Study of Types and Functions

• Ambulatory Surgical Centers: Offer surgeries at lower costs, minimizing infection risks as patients focus on surgery, not recovery from illness.
• Birth Centers: Emphasize the midwifery model, providing a comfortable and cost-effective family-inclusive birth environment for mothers.
• Blood Banks: Allow blood and platelet donations, storing and sorting blood components for optimal patient use.
• Clinics & Medical Offices: Focus on outpatient diagnosis and treatment across various specialties.
• Diabetes Education Centers: Provide classes, education, support groups, and resources to help individuals manage their diabetes effectively and strive for a complication-free life.
• Dialysis Centers: Provide regular dialysis treatments for individuals with kidney disease, filtering and cleaning the blood artificially.
• Hospice Homes: Represent a package of end-of-life insurance benefits and a philosophy of care provision for dying patients. They also offer specific facilities for end-of-life care.
• Hospitals: Act as the ultimate healthcare facility, providing a wide range of services depending on size and location. Their primary goal is to save lives.
  • Hospitals are divided into units:
    • Intensive Care Units (ICUs): Handle emergencies and severe illness, caring for patients with life-threatening issues.
    • Non-intensive Care Units: Provide care for a broader range of patients.
    • Other Hospital Types:
      • Teaching-cum-Research Hospitals: Focus on teaching medical staff and conducting research, with healthcare provision as a secondary goal.
      • General Hospitals: Offer treatment for common diseases and conditions, covering a broad spectrum of medical disciplines (general medicine, surgery, obstetrics, pediatrics, etc.). Teaching and research play secondary roles.
      • Specialized Hospitals: Offer care for a specific disease, condition, or organ system.
      • Isolation Hospitals: Cater to patients with infections or communicable diseases requiring isolation.

Hospital Levels and Organization

• Hospital Size Classification:
  • Small Hospitals: Less than 20 beds.
  • Medium Hospitals: 20-100 beds.
  • Large Hospitals: Over 100 beds (up to 1000 or more).
• Hospital Levels in the Philippines (DOH Guidelines):
  • Level 1 Hospitals: Most basic, without ICUs, offering minor care and supervision.
  • Level 2 Hospitals: Include all Level 1 functions, plus ICUs, specialists for gynecology and pediatrics.
  • Level 3 Hospitals: Highest level, offering specialized interventions like physical rehabilitation or dialysis.
  • Level 4 Hospitals (Tertiary Level IV): Tertiary hospitals with expensive and sophisticated diagnostic and therapeutic facilities for a specific medical area.
• Hospital Organization:
  • Two main wings:
    • Clinical Administration: Manages medical staff, treatment, and patient care.
    • Office Administration: Handles finances, procurement, and facility maintenance.
• Organizational Chart: Demonstrates the flow of functions within the institution in a structured and logical manner.

Hospital Administrative Responsibilities

• Hospital Administrators:
  • Direct and supervise medical staff.
  • Establish organizational goals.
  • Plan and implement programs like HR administration.
  • Oversee finances and related operations (budget planning, authorizing expenses, creating financial reports).
  • Communicate with staff, departments, and board members.
  • Hire and train staff.
  • Monitor resource use and allocation.
  • Ensure facility standards meet current regulatory requirements.

Other Key Roles

• Admissions Representatives: Serve as the first point of contact for patients, collecting information, verifying insurance, and providing excellent customer service.

Hospital Departments and Functions

• Information Systems: Collect, store, process data, and provide information for managing operations, customer interaction, and market competition.
• Procurement: Involves purchasing goods and services for business use.
• Accounting: Records, classifies, and summarizes financial transactions to monitor the organization's financial health and performance.
• Support Services: Includes housekeeping, maintenance, food services, laundry, linen services, and patient transportation.

Medical Staff and Clinical Services

• Physicians: Health professionals with extensive knowledge and training, practicing medicine to promote, maintain, or restore health through disease, injury, and impairment treatment.
• Clinical Services: Provide counseling, assessment, group therapy, family therapy, medication management, and other specialized services for mental health and substance use disorders.
• Clinical Support Services: Offer occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychological services, social work services, laboratory management, radiology services, central sterile supply services, and hospital pharmacy services.

Supporting Services

• **Medical Records: Document patient history, clinical findings, test results, care plans, and medication details.
• Dietary Service Department: Provides nutritious meals and food services to patients.
• Hospital Waste Management: Handles and disposes of hospital waste, including general waste, sharps, pharmaceuticals, and chemical waste.
• Hospital Infection Control: Implements policies and procedures to minimize the spread of infections.
• IT & Medical Equipment Management: Manages hospital information technology and medical equipment.
• Medico-Social Services: Provides social support and resources for patients.