Trinity Community Hospital: Quality Care in US Southeast

Trinity Community Hospital is one of the healthcare facilities in the Southeast United States, catering to 150 in-patients who need the various services provided on offer (Trinity Community Hospital, n.d.). At the moment, the hospital offers services in internal medicine, pulmonary medicine, thoracic surgery, gynecology, and neurology. Obstetrics and gynecology were on offer a couple of months ago. Still, since the resident anchor physician group moved to a competing healthcare facility, the service is no longer available at Trinity Community Hospital. Regardless of the move of the resident physicians, the hospital still holds a good reputation in the community for the services it renders to the patients who need obstetrics and gynecology services. While the status of the hospital is functional, it is not the best in any specialty. Thus, the healthcare facility needs to focus on a specific field of medicine where it can specialize in and offer above the board services.

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Owing to the nature of the lack of specialization in the hospital, there is a need for the management of the facility to focus on a new service line. From the case study, there is a demand for an oncology unit which the hospital could develop to cater to the needs of the community and be profitable in the provision of the oncology services. From the case study, the oncology unit would fill the void of the cancer services, which are poorly organized and lack an ACOS accreditation (Trinity Community Hospital, n.d.). Additionally, the competing hospitals require an oncology center making Trinity Community Hospital a pioneer of the new service line, which patients will flock as soon as it is running.

How to Incorporate Current International Healthcare Trends

The current international healthcare trends in oncology are significant in the setting up of the new oncology service line at Trinity Community Hospital. One of the primary healthcare trends is the use of technology in the treatment of cancer conditions in patients (Karachi, 2019). Healthcare practitioners are moving towards the use of technology devices and strategies in the diagnosis, treatment, and evaluation of the various conditions plaguing patients in the contemporary world. The hospital thus needs to ensure that the new service line will feature an array of technological advancements that include modern cancer diagnostic equipment, current treatment regimens, and technical means of follow up.

The other trend in the contemporary world is the use of updated and current research material to inform the treatment of conditions. Evidence-based medicine is the new mode of treating conditions where there has to be evidence of the effectiveness of a regimen before a physician decides to impose a form of treatment for any conditions (Karachi, 2019). In the new service line, the physicians have to ensure that the conditions they treat have a scientific and evidence-based viewpoint. The final trend in healthcare in contemporary times is the use of non-invasive procedures for the treatment of most cancer conditions. (Marie Fillion, 2019). The current trends feature the use of immune-oncology, cell, and gene therapies, which are all non-invasive and have a higher success rate than traditional surgical procedures. The new service line should, therefore, be up to date on these procedures to ensure that the hospital is modern and adheres to the current healthcare trends.

Existing Programs and Service Lines as Complementary Components

In the development of the oncology center, there is a myriad of existing programs and services which could complement it. One of these is the presence of a broad range of medical staff who specialize in a multitude of health disciplines. Trinity Community Hospital has physicians who are all board-certified and are very competitive in their various fields (Trinity Community Hospital, n.d.). In addition to practice at the hospital, these physicians hold commendable positions at the competing facilities and, in this way, will be of tremendous help to ensuring that the oncology center is of good repute. Secondly, the presence of various disciplines within the healthcare facility will be instrumental in ensuring that the oncology center has the necessary support. For instance, the presence of a well-staffed general surgery center will come in handy in handling cancer patients who may develop comorbidities that require the attention of general surgeons.

In addition to the programs mentioned in the preceding paragraph, Trinity Community Hospital is in an area that attracts a large number of moneyed individuals (Trinity Community Hospital, n.d.). As captured in the case study, the surrounding community is in a thriving county that is home to owners and workers of high-tech business and industry workers. These workers and business owners will appreciate the services of the hospital and will make it their primary contact if they develop medical conditions. Furthermore, the hospital has a large tract of land which is accessible from all major roadways, and thus, if it acquires the new service line, access to the facility will be easy. The ease of access will be attractive to individuals who will, therefore, find it easy to seek the various services from the facility.

Financial Feasibility

Setting up a new oncology service line presents a myriad of financial liabilities, which, if the management of the hospital does not consider thoroughly, will lead to enormous losses for Trinity Community Hospital. It is, therefore, essential to assess the financial and operating data to determine the economic feasibility of instituting the new service line. As captured in the case study, the new service line's five-year projections show that the gross charges per oncology discharge will be $70,000 (Trinity Community Hospital, n.d.). In comparison to the other service lines, it is the highest and $10,000 short of the total gross releases for the service lines in the hospital. Thus, the gross charges per oncology discharge indicate that the hospital will be profitable in running the oncology service line. Concerning the total costs per radiation oncology treatment, each patient will pay $450, which is also one of the highest among the other service lines. In this regard, the oncology service line is profitable and will most certainly work well in ensuring that the hospital receives a return on investment for setting the program. The other service in the oncology service line is chemotherapy treatment, where each patient will pay $600. The service charge of the chemotherapy treatment is among the highest of all the other service lines and is a pointer to the financial feasibility of the oncology service line. The total collections from the oncology service line will be 35%, which in comparison to the other services, is good. The ratio of cost to charges for the service line is 30%, which averages the rest of the service lines. From all the financial data captured in the preceding sentences, it is clear that the service line is financially feasible and is therefore sure to bode well for Trinity Community Hospital.

How to Target and Market to Physicians to Secure Referral Services

In addition to setting up the new service line, there is a need for a multidisciplinary approach to ensuring that the oncology treatment center is not only successful but also productive. In this way, it is essential to ensure that the physicians who could offer support and complementary services to the oncologists know about the services offered at Trinity Community Hospital. Before marketing the services provided at the oncology department, it is essential to ensure that the facility targets an array of physicians who will be instrumental in ensuring that their services are complementary to the oncology service line (Iswanto, 2019). Targeting these physicians will entail highlighting all the additional services that oncologists will need to provide a multidisciplinary healthcare provision. One of the ways of marketing the facility to the supporting physicians is to invite as many of them to the opening of the new service line. During the inaugural speech, the physicians will know what the facility offers and how they can step in to complement the services. The second way of reaching out to physicians is to refer patients to private practitioners who may provide specialized care to other comorbidities that come with cancer ailments. In this way, the referrals will ensure that the physicians get in touch with the primary oncologists in the healthcare facility. The other way of securing referral services is to drop cards at the various private practitioners' officers so that when they see patients who need oncology services, they can promptly refer to the healthcare facility.

References

Iswanto, A. H. (2019). Lean implementation in the referral unit. Lean Implementation in Hospital Departments, 115-122. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429032288-14Karachi, A. (2019). Immunotherapy for treatment of cancer. Current Trends in Cancer Management. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.81150Marie Fillion, M. (2019). Advances in the treatment of pancreatic cancer. Current Trends in Cancer Management. https://doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.82074Trinity Community Hospital. (n.d.). Trinity Community Hospital Fact Sheet.