How to write an essay on Finance and Economics in Healthcare Delivery

How to write an essay on Finance and Economics in Healthcare Delivery

Part 1: Executive Summary

Within the healthcare system, there are opportunities to provide patients with products and offer services that can positively impact their health outcomes. One of the healthcare issues observed to cause problems to patients and healthcare systems is pressure ulcers among the elderly. Pressure ulcers are relatively common and complex wounds that affect hospitalized patients across different care settings. Depending on the nature of the population surveyed, evidence suggests that the incidence of pressure ulcers ranges from 0.35 to 46% per 1000 hospital days in the US (Beeckam et al., 2019). Among the elderly, pressure ulcers cause problems like pain and an increased risk for infection. Consequently, the mortality and morbidity rate resulting from pressure ulcers is questionable making prevention an important aspect of care. To reduce the risk of developing pressure ulcers, air hospital beds and air mattresses are carefully designed for greater comfort and enhanced circulation (Shi et al., 2021). However, air mattresses are expensive to purchase for most facilities and require proposer maintenance for durability. The proposed plan to address the issue of pressure ulcers involves the purchasing of air mattresses.

The input of various stakeholders is important in ensuring the successful adoption of evidence in healthcare. The opportunity to address the issue of pressure ulcers impacts stakeholders like the hospital financial management team, nursing management, and patients. The financial team is charged with tasks like allocating capital for the purchase of equipment, installation, and maintenance. This team must be involved to provide the hospital management with the budget for purchasing air mattresses and other accompaniments. The team will ensure the new equipment will be beneficial to the patients and gauge how the aspect of the cost will be impacted by the decisions made. Nursing management is important during the implementation process to ensure the product works and that patients receive the services needed. This team will be tasked with identifying the various types of air beds required for inpatient and specific areas like emergency rooms. For example, reclining air mattresses will be preferred in emergency rooms while rotating air beds will be suitable in the wards (Shi et al., 2021). Lastly, the patients will be the beneficiaries of this project and reduced pressure ulcers will demonstrate improved patient outcomes.

The healthcare product proposed to address the issue of pressure ulcers among the elderly is air mattresses. These supportive surfaces are recommended by international organizations like the

National Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel and the European Pressure Ulcer Advisory Panel to manage pressure ulcers (Beeckam et al., 2019). Air mattresses reduce pressure ulcers by decreasing damage to tissues by redistributing the mechanical load imposed on the skin. Through mechanisms like envelopment and immersion, air mattresses ensure redistribution of the surface around body irregularities. Air mattresses enable the patent to sleep in different positions without causing pain and aid in recovery by pushing the body organs back into place. The purchase of these products is supported by evidence where patients utilizing air mattresses demonstrate quick recovery and low rates of pressure ulcers. For example, a systematic review conducted to ascertain the effectiveness of static air mattress overlays indicated a low incidence of pressure sores compared to standard mattresses (Serraes et al., 2018). In general, the use of air mattresses can be an effective approach to minimizing pressure ulcer development among the elderly and enable quick recovery for those affected.

 

 

References

Beeckman, D., Serraes, B., Anrys, C., Van Tiggelen, H., Van Hecke, A., & Verhaeghe, S. (2019). A multicentre prospective randomised controlled clinical trial comparing the effectiveness and cost of a static air mattress and alternating air pressure mattress to prevent pressure ulcers in nursing home residents. International Journal of Nursing Studies97, 105–113.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijnurstu.2019.05.015

Serraes, B., Van Leen, M., Schols, J., Van Hecke, A., Verhaeghe, S., & Beeckman, D. (2018). Prevention of pressure ulcers with a static air support surface: A systematic review. International Wound Journal15(3), 333-343.

https://doi.org/10.1111/iwj.12870

Shi, C., Dumville, J. C., Cullum, N., Rhodes, S., Jammali-Blasi, A., & McInnes, E. (2021). Alternating pressure (active) air surfaces for preventing pressure ulcers. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews5(5), CD013620.

https://doi.org/10.1002/14651858.CD013620.pub2

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