Hospital diagnostic and treatment areas: separate inpatients and outpatients?

[LouCadet]

Should hospital diagnostic and treatment areas be designed so that inpatients and outpatients are kept separate? Is this a best practice even though it might mean duplicating facilities on the same campus?

What are the considerations that might make it desirable to separate inpatients and outpatients in the diagnostic imaging suite, or the surgical suite, for example?

[Belle Epoque]

Uh oh, yet another do-my-homework-for-me question...

[BacktoBasics]

DEF a homework question.

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

Heh heh, yeah, probably, but it's an interesting question...

I personally would like to see the concept implemented in our State hospitals, where the waiting time for patients is horrendously long. Anything that reduces this is a good idea in my book.

Cost and logistics (especially as regards space) are probably the biggest drawbacks.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Some considerations that makes it desirable to separate inpatient and outpatient diagnostic services are control of infectious disease and pandemic planning. For example, in 2003,Toronto experienced an outbreak of SARS and in an effort to prevent it's spread, outpatients' diagnostic services appointments were cancelled. If, in the future, there is some type of pandemic and hospitals have separate outpatient and inpatient diagnostic services then the outpatient appointments will not need to be cancelled.

dishes

[LouCadet]

Thanks for the comments. I am hoping to supplement the sporifice literature that I've found on the topic so far with advice from practitioners. This is not 'homework,' it pertains to an actual situation and your thoughtful comments are appreciated.

[BacktoBasics]

This is not 'homework,' it pertains to an actual situation and your thoughtful comments are appreciated.

If you're doing this question for a class, then it's homework.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

Having outpatients go to a single area of the hospital to have tests is more practical then having outpatients wander all over the hospital for various tests.

dishes

[LouCadet]

This question is not for a class -- it pertains to gathering information to help an actual hospital in decision-making process. The crux of the question is finding reasons to support establishment of what could be viewed as unnecessarily duplicative diagnostic & treatment facilities and equipment on the hospital campus to better achieve the separation of outpatients from inpatients.

I am conducting a lit search, too, but hoped to supplement with informed opinion from this professional community. Thanks.

[dishes, BSN, RN]

LouCadet

In the case you are looking at, what is the average percentage of outpatient vs inpatient diagnostic appointments? For example is it 50-50 or 80% outpt vs 20% inpt?

If there is a high percentage of outpatient appointments and the outpatients are on long wait lists, then a separate outpatients diagnostic area will be well utilized. In contrast, if the volume of inpatient appointments is low, then a separate inpatient diagnostic area may be under utilized. One idea to maximize the inpatient equipment is to share it with the hospitals's researchers.

dishes

[dishes, BSN, RN]

LouCadet

There are some knowledgable diagnostic nurses who post in the radiology nursing section of allnurses, you can ask the moderator to move your thread to this area.

dishes

[GHGoonette, BSN, RN]

Lou, you don't mention whether this hospital is for-profit, neither do you give any idea of the population size it serves.

In the private scenario where I live, doctors' rooms are situated away from the main hospital. Private laboratory and radiology firms operate in the same complex. In-patients do not go to the rooms, except for radiology, and even then it is possible for certain x-rays do be done using a mobile unit. If the admitting doctor refers an in-patient to another specialist, it is not necessary for the patient to be taken to the specialist's rooms-the doctor will see him or her in the ward.

Laboratory staff collect specimens from the wards, so it's only necessary for patients to leave the actual hospital area if they need a CAT or MRI scan, or for that matter any more involved x-ray imaging. Obviously, this is unavoidable.

This differs from the State setup in that patients who are referred for any tests have to go to the respective out-patient clinic for them. This is due to staffing constraints in all disciplines-we don't have enough doctors and nurses to go around. If you have enough staff, it shouldn't be necessary for in-patients to clutter up out-patient facilities.