Introduction
The United Transitional Care Center was created to cater for the increased need of specialized care for patients released from hospital on their way home. This programme intends to act as the intermediary between the hospitalization period and the rehabilitation into the society period. the center provides its patients with the chance to acclimatize with the conditions expected at home while trained nurses attend to them and offer specialized care in the managing of the variously ailments they suffer. The center is specifically important to people of advanced age as they have slow response to medication and would require longer in the hospital wards than is necessary. The center is the effective unit, which focuses on affording these kinds of patients with adequate care in meeting their medication demands and general therapy, while keeping the total costs down.
This thesis concentrates on the model applied by the United Transitory Care Center located in the United Hospital center in West Virginia.
Purpose, goals and the services provided by the agency
United transitory care center is a hospital based skilled nursing facility situated at united hospital center in western Virginia and provides the correct atmosphere for the rehabilitation of many older patients after hospitalization. The aim of this facility is to bridge the gap between hospitalization and discharge into society by providing the patients with the health skills and ability to function within the society.
Agency structure, funding source and referral sources
The success enjoyed by this agency is mainly dependent on the implementation of effective structures and processes; the UTCC applies the bridge model in the conduct of its services. The bridge model requires the application of three crucial stages in the management of patients; before discharge from the hospital, shortly after discharge, and follow up care after the client has been released into the society.
Pre-discharge
During this phase, care coordinators identify the patients in the United Hospital Center who may be at risk for post release complications
Post discharge
This is the phase where the United Transitional Care givers identify the needs of the patients with a specialty insistence on geriatric nursing. The treatment of the main geriatric complications undertaken includes; pressure injuries, cardiovascular disease, respiratory issues, genitourinary issue, diabetes mellitus, thyroid problems, derision, stroke and dizziness. These cases are managed in collaboration with the highly skilled and specialized practitioners in the united hospital center by way of regular checks. Ordinarily however, UTCC has a team of highly skilled nurses who manage the diagnosis and administration of drugs to the patients.
UTCC is for profit organization, and derives most of its funding from the charges it imposes on the patients. However, governmental agencies such as Medicaid, private health insurance of patients, grant funding and volunteer funding chip a good measure of the total resources in the UTCC programme.
Management theory employed by UTCC
UTCC, as a hospital based care center, derives its authority structure from the hospital management with the administrative structures of the United Hospital Center applying to the UTCC. In this plan, the UTCC operates as a subdivision of the hospital. This management plan is advantageous to the UTCC in that the dissemination of services is the only factor delineated from the main hospital facilities, while the functional and supplies for both the hospital and the UTCC follow a singular channel. The hospital is de-congestion of patients who require less medical care and more rehabilitative services by transferring them to the UTCC. Billing of cost incurred by the UTCC is handled differently to ensure that costs and are properly apportioned between the two.
The transitional care manager is the individual who rests with the formal power within the UTCC. He has the authority to recommend the patients for transitory care from the hospital plan, ensure proper care is administered to the patients, and recommend programmes that the patient will require after the expiry of their stay at the center. In execution of these roles, the Transitional care manager has the nurses working under him them and follows instructions directed by the managers. The flow of this discernible structure of power helps the UTCC achieve its goals with minimum levels of disruptions.
The nurses in the other hand are the epitome of the informal power within the UTCC. The input of nurses is crucial in the proper administration of the UTCC programmes. Reports given by the nurses on the progress of the patients are crucial in determining when patients are ready for their release into the society. Additionally, nurses handle the administrative regimes on drug administration, therapy sessions and feeding programmes of the patients. Proper collaboration of nurses in this area ensures that the programmes are successfully implemented. Nurses are a key power center without whom success of the UTCC would lie in jeopardy.
Eligibility processes to the agency
For patients to be eligible for admission into the UTCC there are several criterions that should be met. The patients should be of an advanced age and in a condition, which greatly reduces his effective handling of medication regimes on their own. In addition, they must also have peculiar conditions, which are only manageable by specialized care but not necessitate the need for main hospital admission such as dementia patients with medication for other conditions. Patients with conditions that require quick medical attention are also considered. These may include hypertension patients, who require close attention in case of recurrence.
Limitations on the services that the UTCC offers
Limitations on the services that the UTCC can provide exist in mostly in its capacity to hold patients. its capacity of twenty inpatients at a time limits the time patients can spend at the facility before discharge. The scope it covers, that is, concentrating mainly on patients discharged from the United Hospital Care reduces the number of people who are likely to benefit from the programme.
Culture of the UTCC agency
The UTCC has a culture that emphasizes on comprehensive and affordable transitory care services to its patients. This culture is emphasized with the hospital close connection with the local community who comprise a majority of its patients. In collaboration with the united hospital center, the UTCC is able to disseminate the most relevant and appropriate information to the society through outreach programmes and seminars. This is in ensuring that the load of cases handled by the center reduces by informing the populace of sound medical practices in living with patients.
Works Cited
Garibaldi, Pietro, Joaquim Oliveira-Martins, J C. Ours, and Axel Börsch-Supan. Ageing, Health, and Productivity: The Economics of Increased Life Expectancy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2010. Print.
Lysaught, M T. On Moral Medicine: Theological Perspectives in Medical Ethics. Grand Rapids, Mich: W.B. Eerdmans Pub. Co, 2012. Print.
"Transitional Care Center : United Hospital Center." United Hospital Center : Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 24 Oct. 2013.
