Cooper Green Hospital and the Community Care Plan

Cooper Green Hospital and the Community Care Plan

Unique Problems Associated With Delivering Health Care to an Indigent Population

Priority Concerns

Patients have several other priorities rather than health care. Those priorities are food needs, need of rent and clothes. After that they think over the issue of health care (Swayne et al., 2009).

Transportation Problems

Due to the lack of transportation and limited transportation options, patients feel difficulty in reaching the health care facility or the health care providers (Means et al. 2008).

Lack of familiarity

Awareness regarding health plays a vital part in the promotion of health throughout the community and on a nation as a whole. Awareness program regarding health care issues covers all age groups of a society (Mandelstam, 2008). People are mostly unaware about the concepts like managed care and insurance.

Illiteracy

Another problem related to health care delivery is the poor literacy level among the indigent population (Mandelstam, 2008).

Lack of Confidence over Physician Extenders

People do not believe on physician extenders as they thinks that those are not the “real” doctors, they are not educated enough to prescribe the correct medicine after correct diagnosis (Swayne et al., 2009).

The Purpose of Community Care Plan

Improvement in Access to Care

Community Care Plan will promote the overall health status by improving the access to care. So that everyone can avail the health care services easily when needed (Means et al. 2008).

Continuity of Care

The other purpose of Community Care Plan is the provision of continuity of care (Mandelstam, 2008).

Cost Reduction

It will reduce the overall cost of hospital that is utilized in the delivery of health care services and to attract the Medicaid, Medicare and other “revenue” patients (Swayne et al., 2009).

Health Plan

Community Care Plan will provide the prepaid health plan for the patients by implementing the steps that promote the payment of annual fee in installments.

Prevention and Maintenance of Health

It will greatly emphasize on the prevention and maintenance of health by creating awareness and provision of health care services to the indigent population (Mandelstam, 2008).

Factors that Point to the Need for Change by Cooper Green Hospital

Changes in Revenue

Alterations in Medicaid and Medicare payment and the challenges linked with the movement toward capitation and the prospective system of payment (Means et al. 2008). Another aspect is the decreasing revenue from the Indigent care Fund.

Competition

Most of the competitors are flexible and acquiring changes according to the situation (Mandelstam, 2008). Also due to the pressure exerted by the financial issues, competitors are focusing on the Medicare and Medicaid patients as they are the source of revenue.

Inpatient to Outpatient Care

The shift focus from inpatient to outpatient care is due to the reimbursement alterations. Another factor is the advancements in technology and increasing number of county's uninsured population. Health is taken as nonserious issue and considered as less significant than the issues such as violence, crime, drugs and etc.

Aging Population

The increasing number of aging population is another factor because the major portion of Hospital's population will be entitled for the benefits of Medicare and also due to ...