Long-Term Care Facilities
What are the economic factors that make long-term care facilities unique compared to a hospital?
There are very many factors which make long-term care facilities unique compared to a hospital, one of main factors which makes long-term care unique compared to a hospital is the type of services offered in long-term care facilities. The types of services offered in long-term care services include feeding and clothing the patients (Melichar, Flores & Cabigao, 2014). Generally, long-term care facilities mainly focus on services which can be given at home. On the other hand, long-term care facilities also admit patients who stay for more than 25 days in the facility. Writers who offer nursing essay help at Edudorm essay writing service notes that these facility also focuses on patients suffering from more than one condition but are likely to improve within a certain period of time, before being discharged. Furthermore, the facility gives specific services as opposed to hospitals which cater for multiple services. Long-term care facilities therefore offer services such as head trauma treatment, pain management, and respiratory therapy. The facility often concentrates on the elderly who cannot be able to take care of themselves, thus they need the assistance of the nurses in order to be able to carry out any activities. In addition, these patients might also be suffering from chronic which require very close care (Pratt, 2016).
What is the effect of Certificate of Need (CON) on the economics of long-term care facilities economic decision making and how is this different from that of a hospital?
Certificate of Need (CON) is a very effective tool which is responsible for regulating the cost of administering health services to patients in different parts of the country (Pratt, 2016). Moreover, CON provides for proper costs of Medicare, thus making sure that health facilities do not increase the costs of administering health services (Joint Commission Resources & Joint Commission International 2012). This consequently helps in making sure that people are able to enjoy affordable healthcare die to the regulation of health services by the program. When it comes to the economics of long-term care, CON has really helped in regulating the type of technology which should be used in administering its services. This consequently led to the reduced expenditure and thus enabling patients to be able to receive affordable medical care (Melichar, Flores & Cabigao, 2014). Moreover, CON increased the number of beds in long-term care facilities, thus leading to the reduction in the cost of staying in the facility on a daily basis. Experts who offer nursing case study help at Edudorm essay writing service indicates that this has really helped the long-term care to be able to reduce their expenditure in order to make its services affordable to most people. On the other hand, when it comes to hospitals, CON has helped in improving the cost of offering medical services, but on the other hand, the cost of spending a day in the hospitals has increased, since CON is more of a political program thus affecting the functioning of the hospitals negatively.
What does the forecast of supply and demand for the long-term care facilities look like for the next 25 years and how should that impact decision making?
The forecast or supply and demand for long-term care industry in the next 25 years, shows an increase in the demand of long-term care, which will consequently lead to an increase in the supply (Pratt, 2016). However, due to the annual increase in the demand of long-term care, private insurance’s are opting out of long-term care facilities. This consequently shows the effects of CON on long-term care. Moreover, it also means that there will be an increase in the demand of long-term care but the supply will be less. This is consequently because of the regulations which CON has put in place, inhibiting the use of more advanced technologies in the facilities, and thus making it hard for the facilities to be able to decide on which type of technology to use because of the strict regulations put in place. Tutors who offer medical case study help at Edudorm essay writing service acknowledges that due to such regulations, most long-term care facilities will have to go against the regulations of CON in order to be able to attract large numbers of patients (Melichar, Flores & Cabigao, 2014). Therefore, in order for long-term care facilities to be successful, some of the regulations of CON will have to be dropped, thus enabling the facilities to be able to deal with the increasing demands of its services.
Should the U.S. government cover the costs for the elderly in the middle and wealthy classes?
No. the US government should not cover the costs for the elderly in the middle and wealthy classes. This is consequently because, long-term care facilities accounts for 8.5% of the total government expenditure. This percentage is however subjected to rise within the next few and thus it is likely to reach 15% percentage of the total government expenditure by the year 2025 (Pratt, 2016). If the government therefore decides to cover the costs of the middle class and the wealthy class for the elderly, then this means that this percentage will really rise from 8.5% to 40%, thus hindering the state from being able to take care of other services which are required by the public. The government should therefore focus on other areas such as reducing the spread of communicable diseases other than focusing only on the elderly. On the other hand, the government should reduce the costs of services being offered in hospitals, through catering for a certain percentage of the patients’ bill. This is because the number of patients in hospitals is very high compared to that of the elderly. Furthermore, the cost of medical care is also high in hospitals, hence making the poor unable to cater for their medical needs, hence reducing the number of people accessing medical services in the country. The US government should therefore not cover the cost of the elders in the wealthy and middle classes (Melichar, Flores & Cabigao, 2014).
References
Joint Commission Resources, Inc., & Joint Commission International. (2012). Even more mock tracers. Oakbrook Terrace, IL: Joint Commission Resources.
Yee-Melichar, D., Flores, C. M., & Cabigao, E. P. (2014). Long-term care administration and management: Effective practices and quality programs in eldercare.
Pratt, J. R. (2016). Long-term care: Managing across the continuum.
