Reimbursement Model Alignment & Respiratory Therapy: Reducing Cost & LOS - Essay Sample

A group of researchers led by Robert A. Ritchey attempted to explain how changes in healthcare reimbursement model can be aligned with service delivery in their 2018 article,

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“Respiratory Therapy Protocol Use to Drive Appropriate Resource Utilization and Decrease Hospital Length of Stay.” To align with the changes, the respiratory therapists (RTs) agree that there is a need to lower the cost and decrease the length of stay (LOS). Ritchey et al., (2018) asserts that as respiratory therapists, their value is not directly proportional to the daily procedures but how they strive to achieve LOS and quality metric. Through the use of the existing literature, Ritchey team found that the use of respiratory protocol decreases LOS and improves the patient outcome, as long there is appropriate resource utilization, ensuring that all the treatment has established procedures.

Ritchey et al., (2018) used an electronic medical record embedded RTP order set. All the subjects were examined by respiratory staff, and subjected to appropriate therapy treatment assessed through the scoring tool and therapy algorithms. The non-ICU COPD patients' results decreased from 4.16 in the pre-intervention period to a post-intervention average of 3.72, leading to a total reduction of 205 patient days and about $269 166 in treatment cost savings. The results affirm that the utilization of RTP directly reduces patient LOS for the patients with primary COPD and the admission diagnosis.

Another article by Jassal et al. (2016), "Reducing Inpatient Length of Stay Using a Multi-collaborative Protocol for Management of Non-Intensive Care Unit Asthmatics," confirms the idea the changes in the reimbursement model has led to the efforts of maximizing clinical efficiency through the reduction of inpatient LOS. As such, hospital administrators have focused on the use of standardized protocols. Jassal et al., (2016) attempts to determine whether the synchronous alteration in the patient asthma protocol relied on Respiratory Therapists (RT) driven bronchodilator therapy and bronchodilator weaning algorithm can affect the financial and clinical outcomes of non-ICU patient treatment.

In conclusion, both the article confirms that respiratory therapy protocols are extensively beneficial in any healthcare setting, particularly on the financials and the clinical outcomes. The article by Ritchey et al. claims that the therapy protocol has a significant impact on the patient’s financials, which is disputed by Jasal et al., assertion that there was no significant change on the patient charges was observed. However, overall, the two articles affirm that the shortened LOS has significant impacts on administrators seeking cost efficiencies, and safety plans to improve the bed space availability.

References

Jassal, M. S., Sadreameli, S. C., Pereira, I., Mann, S., Garger, C., Lee, C. K., ... & Rohde, J. (2016). Reducing inpatient length of stay using a multi collaborative protocol for the management of non-intensive care unit asthmatics. Pediatric Allergy, Immunology, and Pulmonology, 29(3), 118-124. 29. 118-124. DOI: 10.1089/ped.2016.0673.

Ritchey, R. A., Whitford, M., Brown, K., McNiel, S., Walker, R., Shelton, J., & Modrykamien, A. (2018). Respiratory Therapy Protocol Use to Drive Appropriate Resource Utilization and Decrease Hospital Length of Stay. http://rc.rcjournal.com/content/63/Suppl_10/3019825