Health facility

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Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. A hospital is one common type of health facility. Hartford Hospital main entrance.JPG
Hartford Hospital in Hartford, Connecticut. A hospital is one common type of health facility.
An eye, ear, nose, and throat clinic in Durham, North Carolina, illustrating a common smaller facility. 2008-09-02 NC Eye, Ear, Nose & Throat in Durham.jpg
An eye, ear, nose, and throat clinic in Durham, North Carolina, illustrating a common smaller facility.

A health facility is, in general, any location where healthcare is provided. Health facilities range from small clinics and doctor's offices to urgent care centers and large hospitals with elaborate emergency rooms and trauma centers. The number and quality of health facilities in a country or region is one common measure of that area's prosperity and quality of life. In many countries, health facilities are regulated to some extent by law; licensing by a regulatory agency is often required before a facility may open for business. Health facilities may be owned and operated by for-profit businesses, non-profit organizations, governments, and, in some cases, individuals, with proportions varying by country. See also the recent review paper, [1]

Contents

Health facility workload

The workload of a health facility is often used to indicate its size. Large health facilities are those with a greater patient load.

In Australia the workload of a health facility is used to determine the level of government funding provided to that facility. The government measures a facility (or health practice) in terms of its standard whole patient equivalent (SWPE). The SWPE calculation is determined by analysis of the patients that attend that facility. The calculation takes into account the proportion of health services (in dollars) rendered at that facility relative to others that each patient attends. It includes a weighting factor based on each patients' demography to account for the varied levels of services required by patients depending on their gender and age. [2] The premise of weighting is that patients require different levels of health services depending on their age and gender. For example, the average male patient requires fewer consultations than his older and infant counterparts. The table shows the weighting factors used in the standardization of workloads.

Table: Age by Sex Weights for SWPE Standardisation

Age (years)MaleFemale
less than 10.9600.962
1-41.1891.112
less than 100.6880.699
15-240.6330.938
25-440.7291.012
45-640.9631.199
65-741.3551.623
75+1.8082.183

Types of health facility

Hospital

A hospital is an institution for healthcare typically providing specialized treatment for inpatient (or overnight) stays. Some hospitals primarily admit patients with a specific disease or affliction, or are reserved for the diagnosis and treatment of conditions affecting a specific age group. Others have a mandate that expands beyond offering dominantly curative and rehabilitative care services to include promotional, preventive and educational roles as part of a primary healthcare approach. Today, hospitals are usually funded by the state, health organizations (for profit or non-profit), by health insurances or by charities and by donations. Historically, however, they were often founded and funded by religious orders or charitable individuals and leaders. Hospitals are nowadays staffed by professionally trained doctors, nurses, paramedical clinicians, etc., whereas historically, this work was usually done by the founding religious orders or by volunteers.

Healthcare center

Healthcare centres, including clinics, doctor's offices, urgent care centers and ambulatory surgery centers, serve as first point of contact with a health professional and provide outpatient medical, nursing, dental, and other types of care services. [3]

Medical Nursing Homes

Medical nursing homes, including residential treatment centers and geriatric care facilities, are health care institutions which have accommodation facilities and which engage in providing short-term or long-term medical treatment of a general or specialized nature not performed by hospitals to inpatients with any of a wide variety of medical conditions. [4]

Pharmacies and drug stores

Pharmacies and drug stores comprise establishments engaged in retailing prescription or nonprescription drugs and medicines, and other types of medical and orthopaedic goods. [4] Regulated pharmacies may be based in a hospital or clinic or they may be privately operated, and are usually staffed by pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, and pharmacy aides.

Medical laboratory and research

A medical laboratory or clinical laboratory is a laboratory where tests are done on biological specimens in order to get information about the health of a patient. Such laboratories may be divided into categorical departments such as microbiology, hematology, clinical biochemistry, immunology, serology, histology, cytology, cytogenetics, or virology. In many countries, there are two main types of labs that process the majority of medical specimens. Hospital laboratories are attached to a hospital, and perform tests on these patients. Private or community laboratories receive samples from general practitioners, insurance companies, and other health clinics for analysis.

A biomedical research facility is where basic research or applied research is conducted to aid the body of knowledge in the field of medicine. Medical research can be divided into two general categories: the evaluation of new treatments for both safety and efficacy in what are termed clinical trials, and all other research that contributes to the development of new treatments. The latter is termed preclinical research if its goal is specifically to elaborate knowledge for the development of new therapeutic strategies.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emergency department</span> Medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine

An emergency department (ED), also known as an accident and emergency department (A&E), emergency room (ER), emergency ward (EW) or casualty department, is a medical treatment facility specializing in emergency medicine, the acute care of patients who present without prior appointment; either by their own means or by that of an ambulance. The emergency department is usually found in a hospital or other primary care center.

A patient is any recipient of health care services that are performed by healthcare professionals. The patient is most often ill or injured and in need of treatment by a physician, nurse, optometrist, dentist, veterinarian, or other health care provider.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stanford University Medical Center</span> Private hospital affiliated with Stanford University School of Medicine

Stanford University Medical Center is a medical complex which includes Stanford Health Care and Stanford Children's Health. It is consistently ranked as one of the best hospitals in the United States and serves as a teaching hospital for the Stanford University School of Medicine. In 2022–23, it was ranked by the US News as the 3rd-best hospital in California and 10th-best in the country.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Medical University of South Carolina</span> Medical school and six colleges for the education of health professionals

The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) is a public medical school in Charleston, South Carolina. It opened in 1824 as a small private college aimed at training physicians and has since established hospitals and medical facilities across the state. It is one of the oldest continually operating schools of medicine in the United States and the oldest in the Deep South.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westmead Hospital</span> Hospital in New South Wales, Australia

Westmead Hospital is a major teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia. Opened on 10 November 1978, the 975-bed hospital forms part of the Western Sydney Local Health District, and is a teaching hospital of Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Singapore General Hospital</span> Hospital in Singapore

Singapore General Hospital (SGH) is an academic health science centre and tertiary referral hospital in Singapore. It is located next to the Bukit Merah and Chinatown districts of the Central Region, close to the Outram Community Hospital (OCH), which functions as a supplementary community and rehabilitation hospital to SGH for newly-discharged patients. There is also the Outram Polyclinic to complement outpatient care. All of these institutions are operated by SingHealth, which comes under the purview of the Ministry of Health (MOH).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal North Shore Hospital</span> Hospital in New South Wales, Australia

The Royal North Shore Hospital (RNSH) is a major public teaching hospital in Sydney, Australia, located in St Leonards. It serves as a teaching hospital for Sydney Medical School at the University of Sydney, University of Technology and Australian Catholic University and has over 600 beds.

Allied health professions are health care professions that provide a range of diagnostic, technical, therapeutic, and support services in connection with health care. Their services are allied with and support the work of a number of other professions not considered allied health professions, such as medicine, nursing, dentistry, optometry, pharmacy, and others listed below as "excluded professions".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Grant USAF Medical Center</span> Hospital in California, United States

The David Grant USAF Medical Center (DGMC) at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, is the United States Air Force's largest medical center in the continental United States and serves military beneficiaries throughout eight western states. It is a fully accredited hospital with a National Quality Approval gold seal by the Joint Commission, and serves more than 500,000 Department of Defense and Department of Veterans Affairs Northern California Health Care System eligible beneficiaries in the immediate San Francisco–Sacramento vicinity from 17 counties covering 40,000 square miles. Originally known as Travis Air Force Base Hospital, DGMC was renamed in 1966 in honor of David Norvell Walker Grant, the first Surgeon General of the United States Army Air Corps and United States Army Air Forces.

Health information exchange (HIE) is the mobilization of health care information electronically across organizations within a region, community or hospital system. Participants in data exchange are called in the aggregate Health Information Networks (HIN). In practice, the term HIE may also refer to the health information organization (HIO) that facilitates the exchange.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Health care in Saudi Arabia</span> National health care system

Health care in Saudi Arabia is a national health care system in which the government provides free universal healthcare coverage through a number of government agencies. There is also a growing role and increased participation from the private sector in the provision of health care services. Saudi Arabia has been ranked among the 26 best countries in providing high quality healthcare.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">National Healthcare Group</span> Singapore group of healthcare institutions

The National Healthcare Group (NHG) is a group of healthcare institutions in Singapore. The group was formed in 2000 and operates several hospitals, national specialty centers, and polyclinics. Tan Tock Seng Hospital is the largest hospital in the group and serves as the flagship hospital for the cluster.

Spartanburg Regional Healthcare System(SRHS) is one of South Carolina's largest healthcare systems. SRHS draws patients primarily from the areas of Spartanburg, Cherokee, Union, and Greenville counties (all located in the Piedmont region of South Carolina) as well as Rutherford and Polk counties (located in western North Carolina). Spartanburg General Hospital was organized under the authority of the South Carolina General Assembly in 1917 and officially became the Spartanburg Regional Health Services District, Inc., a political subdivision of the State of South Carolina, by the charter granted by the secretary of state of South Carolina on May 1, 1995. 

Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC) is Qatar’s main not-for-profit health care provider, and is based in Doha. It was established by Emiri Decree No. 35 in 1979. HMC manages several hospitals, as well as emergency, specialized, and ambulatory care centers, and operates both the national ambulance service and a home healthcare service.

An outpatient department or outpatient clinic is the part of a hospital designed for the treatment of outpatients, people with health problems who visit the hospital for diagnosis or treatment, but do not at this time require a bed or to be admitted for overnight care. Modern outpatient departments offer a wide range of treatment services, diagnostic tests and minor surgical procedures.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hospital</span> Health care facility with specialized staff and equipment

A hospital is a healthcare institution providing patient treatment with specialized health science and auxiliary healthcare staff and medical equipment. The best-known type of hospital is the general hospital, which typically has an emergency department to treat urgent health problems ranging from fire and accident victims to a sudden illness. A district hospital typically is the major health care facility in its region, with many beds for intensive care and additional beds for patients who need long-term care. Specialized hospitals include trauma centers, rehabilitation hospitals, children's hospitals, seniors' (geriatric) hospitals, and hospitals for dealing with specific medical needs such as psychiatric treatment and certain disease categories. Specialized hospitals can help reduce health care costs compared to general hospitals. Hospitals are classified as general, specialty, or government depending on the sources of income received.

Aspirus Medford Hospital is a non-profit, primary care healthcare organization in Taylor and Price Counties in north-central Wisconsin, United States. Headquartered in Medford, Wisconsin, it is composed of a hospital, a continuum of senior care services, therapy centers, a pharmacy, a fitness center and gym, and primary care clinics located in Gilman, Medford, Prentice, Rib Lake, and Phillips, Wisconsin. The organization is partnered with Aspirus in Wausau, Wisconsin. It employs 525 individuals in the region.

Angkor Hospital for Children (AHC) is an independent, non-profit paediatric healthcare hospital and organisation located in Siem Reap, Cambodia. AHC was founded in 1999 through the efforts of a Japanese photographer Kenro Izu. The mission of AHC is to improve healthcare of Cambodia's children by creating a sustainable, replicable model of a healthcare institution in cooperation with the Cambodian government.

Conemaugh Health System, a member of Duke LifePoint Healthcare, is the largest health care provider in west central Pennsylvania, with multiple hospitals, physician offices, and outpatient centers in eleven counties. Conemaugh Health System is located in Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System</span> Hospital in Minnesota, United States

The Minneapolis Veterans Affairs Health Care System (VAHCS) is network of hospital and outpatient clinics based in Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA. It belongs to the VISN23 VA Midwest Health Care Network managed by the Veterans Health Administration of the Department of Veterans Affairs. The Minneapolis VAHCS provides healthcare for United States military veterans in areas such as medicine, surgery, psychiatry, physical medicine and rehabilitation, neurology, oncology, dentistry, geriatrics and extended care. As a teaching hospital, it operates comprehensive training programs for multiple treatment specialties. The Minneapolis VAHCS also hosts one of the largest research programs of any VA health care system and maintains research affiliations with the University of Minnesota.

References

  1. Ahmadi-Javid, A.; Seyedi, P.; Syam, S. (2017). "A Survey of Healthcare Facility Location". Computers & Operations Research. 79: 223–263. doi:10.1016/j.cor.2016.05.018.
  2. AUSTRALIAN MEDICAL WORKFORCE BENCHMARKS (PDF). Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee (Report). Australian Institute of Health and Welfare. January 1996. p. 25. Archived from the original on August 6, 2010.{{cite report}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  3. "Definition of Terms" (PDF). World Health Organization. Manila. 2010. Archived from the original on December 9, 2010.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  4. 1 2 "International Standard Industrial Classification of All Economic Activities Rev.3.1". United Nations Statistics Division.