Course Design-ACS Practice. Health, Medicine, Nursing Coursework

Course Design-ACS Practice
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Course Design-ACS Practice
Medical practitioners are mandated and obligated to provide the best possible care and without victimization or favoritism. As such, they are continuously involved in efforts to improve patient outcomes through research efforts and clinical trials. It is also through such initiatives that various health care practices have been developed and established. These practices help professionals specialize and provide patients with personalized care and treatment. One notable health care practice that has evolved from traumatic academic surgeons is acute care surgery (ACS). It is a specialty that utilizes not only operative but also non-operative management in attending to traumatic injuries in acute settings. While acute care surgery is an essential health care practice, it is quite costly. It amounts to about ¼ of the inpatient expenses in the US, with the aging population composing a significant percentage of the demographics. Legislations implemented by the US government in line with health care reimbursement and which seeks to shift payment of medical expenses to private entities and households pose significant challenges to the development of ACS practice. The effective evolution of ACS is also impeded by the uneven distribution of available surgeons in and around the US. Legislations involving health care reimbursement and uneven geographical distribution of available surgeons are two major barriers to the development of ACS practice.
Summary of Acute Care Surgery
Acute care surgery is an evolving practice in the health care sector. It comprises three essential components in the form of emergency surgery, trauma, and also critical care (Ogola et al., 2015). Acute care surgeons primarily attend to the surgical treatment of patients brought into the emergency room, and suffering not only from physical trauma but also, in some cases, exhibit severe injuries to their musculoskeletal systems. Tung et al. (2018) reiterate that fact and share, “Patients who have been involved in an accident and have severe injuries to their bones, joints, muscles, tendons, ligaments, and related tissues will be treated by an acute care surgeon, so the injuries heal properly.”. Based on the above statement, acute care surgeons are usually trained to perform their duties as quickly as possible. This is because, in most of the cases involving patients with major trauma, time is of the essence.
It is also essential to note that unlike emergency room (ER) physicians, acute care surgeons are usually called upon when patients require emergency surgeries. They come in to repair severe injuries that are specific and unique to the musculoskeletal system (Paul, 2016). Similarly, acute care surgeons don’t primarily involve and engage themselves in the stabilization of injured patients. Additionally, the other difference between an ER physician and an acute care surgeon relates to the training they receive after graduating from medical school. While ER physicians spend three years in residency programs, acute care surgeons are not only required to complete five to six years of residency but also a few more years of fellowship where they specialize in the three essential components shared in the previous section (Paul, 2016). Based on these facts, it is evident that acute care surgery is an extensive health care practice. They also explain why these specialized medical practitioners charge highly for their services and are quite a few in the industry.
Evidence-Based Article Rationale and Summary
It has been shared in the previous section that acute care surgery is a rapidly growing and evolving practice in health. As such, various scholars and professionals have expounded and wrote articles and books on different issues and aspects surrounding the practice. Some of these professionals have shared and highlighted the impacts of the legislation on health care reimbursement to the practice of ACS extensively. One notable person is Paul (2016), who has vast knowledge in matters medicine and has published several articles centering on acute care surgery. Paul, in the article, elaborates that in the changing health care dynamics, acute care surgical conditions comprise a large percentage of the care and treatment provided in hospitals, and the proportion is increasing at an alarming rate. Paul (2016) denotes that the number of admissions for ACS conditions has increased steadily from 2.4 million in 2001 to about 7 million in 2019. These admissions amount to about $100 billion annually in health care costs in the US. According to Paul (2016), “it has been estimated that almost $700 billion per year is lost when taking into consideration both healthcare costs and lost productivity”. These high inpatient costs associated with ACS result from the acuity and severity of the conditions. These patients, in most cases, are placed in ICU and where treatment is quite expensive.
The second article is by Benard et al. (2020) and who has extensive experience in health care from a financial and economic perspective. The article acknowledges the significance of the evolving practice of ACS, particularly in the US. It goes further to share that diagnoses involving ACS make up about 30% of the inpatient costs in the US (Benard et al., 2020). A significant percentage of the populations served by professionals in practice are the elderly. This is because they are not only prone to injuries but are also susceptible to various acute and chronic conditions. According to the article, ACS is one of the practices whose costs have over the years been borne largely by the government. It is estimated that the government pays for about 45% of the health care costs, households meet 28%, and commercial payers in the form of insurance companies contribute 20% (Benard et al., 2020). However, increasing costs of living and accessing health care has seen the government put in place measures to shift the financial risk and burden households. Benard et al. (2020) note, “The burden of healthcare costs borne by the US government has prompted policy changes and legislation aimed at controlling these costs.”. One piece of legislation is characterized by a reduction in health care reimbursements. Hospitals and medical facilities are heavily reliant on reimbursements from the government to meet various health care expenses, including the purchase of medical equipment and supplies and meeting their staffing needs. It is through these reimbursements...