A review of the observation patient status and its impact to the patient experience

United States healthcare is at a turning point, high cost for low value is no longer satisfactory. As a result, new methods of care are being sought. One such method is the idea of placing a patient in observation status, a place where the patient is still an outpatient but may spend nights in the hospital. The use of this new method is known to have significant and possibly unexpected financial impact on the patient while the provider is simultaneously reacting to reduce costs associated with having this outpatient occupy space for days. At a time when issues such as this are complicated enough, value based payments debut to couple reimbursements for hospitals to patient satisfaction. This essay looks at the observation patient status as a new vehicle for the provision of healthcare while seeking to build understanding for the relevance of the patient experience surrounding the observation patient service line. A pilot which highlights the very real problems hospitals are facing is presented in the essay. This pilot, in addition to a literature review, discuss the need for payers and providers to establish a desire for constant improvement while not underestimating the impacts associated, including the danger of upsetting patients during the renovation. Providers and payers are key determinants of public health; as such patient satisfaction and the mode of the provision of healthcare are essential considerations when seeking to achieve the healthy state