Table of Contents
Part 1 – Understanding the Facility and Infrastructure
Baylor University Medical Center (BUMC) is a healthcare facility that has existed for more than a century. This healthcare facility was founded based on the vision of a humanitarian hospital as envisioned by Dr. George W. Truett (Garner & Bufton, 2001). Consequently, the hospital’s growth and development over the years is attributable to commitment by its management and staff towards providing humanitarian and professional healthcare services to its patients. In light of the vision of a humanitarian hospital, Baylor University Medical Center is a not-for-profit healthcare facility that is located in Dallas, Texas. The facility is renowned for providing high-quality healthcare services to patients in North Texas Community as reflected in its achievements in healthcare and community service.
Baylor University Medical Center is part of the Baylor Scott & White Health, which was established following the 2013 merger between Scott & White and Baylor Health Care System. This inpatient and outpatient facility is a general medical and surgical hospital as well as a teaching hospital that has continued to thrive through providing healthcare services and community service. The facility is regarded as one of the major medical centers for medical training, patient care, and research in North Texas. It currently has more than 1,079 licensed beds that enable it to provide inpatient and outpatient services to the North Texas Community (Baylor Scott & White Health, 2018).
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Types of Services Provided by the BUMC
As a general medical and surgical hospital, Baylor University Medical Center provides a wide range of inpatient and outpatient healthcare services to patients within the North Texas Community. The wide range of healthcare services provided to patients by Baylor University Medical Center are within various specialties. These specialties include lung care, cancer care, breast imaging, maternal care, critical and intensive care, asthma care, eye care, foot care, rheumatology, emergency/urgent care, supportive and palliative care, surgical services, pediatric care, pain management, dentistry and oral surgery, and alternative and integrative medicine (Baylor Scott & White Health, 2018).
In addition to these healthcare services, Baylor University Medical Center also provides charity care and community-based programs that are based on its philosophy of humanitarian care. The provision of charity care and community-based programs is attributable to the hospital’s efforts towards meeting the healthcare needs of uninsured and underrepresented Texans. The hospital identifies community health needs through the Baylor Scott & White Health system, which focuses on enhancing community health. Once these needs are identified, BUMC goes beyond the facility’s walls to provide high-quality, compassionate care to the community. This process entails providing numerous opportunities for the facility’s clinical and non-clinical staffs to serve in community events and projects.
Baylor University Medical Center also provides teaching services since it’s a teaching and research hospital. Through its fellowship, the facility provides educational and real-world insights to medical and nursing practice. The teaching services at BUMC are provided through fellowship programs, which have been established to help staffs to pursue their passion and sharpen their skills in medical and nursing practice. The programs are supervised and managed by various committed physicians from a wide range of disciplines in the healthcare field. Additionally, Baylor University Medical Center has established residency programs that are geared towards providing training to staffs. Through the residency programs, students undergo comprehensive and rigorous training programs in their chosen specialty. The residency or fellowship training programs offered by the facility provide comprehensive clinical and educational services that help prepare individuals for a lifetime of community service (Baylor Scott & White Health, 2015).
BUMC Vision
The vision of Baylor University Medical Center to become the most valued and trusted name in providing and obtaining safe, quality, and compassionate care.
BUMC Mission
The mission of this healthcare facility is to provide excellent health care, medical education, research and community service to its clients (Baylor Scott & White Health, 2018). Baylor University Medical Center has continued to pursue its vision and mission through values of innovation, integrity, excellence, servant hood, stewardship, and teamwork.
BUMC Organizational Structure and Departments
The success and growth of Baylor University Medical Center over the years is attributable to its suitable organizational structure that has provided the premise for effective leadership and management.
Board of Directors
The hospital is led by a Board of Directors who are responsible for the facility’s charter. The board is also responsible for setting strategy and providing direction for the facility.
Executive and Senior Staff
Under the Board of Directors, BUMC is led by executive and senior staff who manage the facility and oversee its daily operations. Individuals in this department include Chief Executive Officer, Chief Strategy Officer, Chief Financial Officer, Executive Vice President & Chief Medical Officer, Chief Operations Officer, Chief Human Resources Officer, Chief Legal Officer, and Chief Information Officer.
Medical Staff
The medical staff at Baylor University Medical Center are responsible for all clinical activities and initiatives as well as medical procedures, surgical procedures and other clinical processes. Medical staff include physicians, nurses, and lab technicians since they are involved in direct patient care services. These medical staffs work in various clinical departments since the hospital provides a wide range of inpatient and outpatient services across various specialties. Some of the major clinical departments at the facility include surgical unity, pediatric care unit, emergency care department, cancer care department, and maternal care unit.
BUMC’s Clinical Services
The clinical services provided by Baylor University Medical Center can be divided into three major segments i.e. primary, secondary, and tertiary services.
Primary Services
The primary services provided by this general medical and surgical hospital include emergency room service, basic services, general surgery, pediatric care, maternal care, and cancer care.
Secondary Services
The secondary services provided by Baylor University Medical Center include community healthcare services, pain management services, alternative and integrated medicine, and critical and intensive care.
Tertiary Services
The tertiary services provided by Baylor University Medical Center to its clients include medical teaching services, eye care, foot care, rheumatology, supportive and palliative care, and asthma care.
Areas of Improvement for BUMC
While Baylor University Medical Center has developed to become a leading general medical and surgical hospital, there are some necessary improvements in the facility’s administration, operations, clinical, compliance, and IT systems. With regards to administration, the hospital needs to establish mid-level administration managers who supervise various aspects of the hospital’s operations. Currently, the hospital does not have mid-level administration managers given that most of the leadership is provided by executives and senior managers in Baylor Scott & White Health system. In relation to operations, there is need for the hospital to increase its investment in new medical technology, training, and support personnel in order to enhance the health outcomes of its patients and the community (Burke & Weill, 2012). The clinical department requires increased adoption and use of advanced medical technology that improves patient outcomes given the demand for better patient outcomes in the North Texan Community. With regards to compliance, BUMC needs to follow protocols and guidelines on filing medical records because of the recent failures in filing patient records correctly. Since the BUMC’s current IT infrastructure is outdated, new IT systems to enhance surgical procedures should be adopted since IT is critical in improving clinical processes (Gartee, 2011).
Part 2 – Inpatient and Outpatient Facilities
The two most common types of healthcare facilities are inpatient and outpatient facilities that provide different kinds of healthcare services to a diverse range of patient population. Generally, medical treatment and surgeries can be classified into outpatient and inpatient processes. Patients need to understand the difference between the two kinds of care since they have considerable impacts on the length of patient stay and cost or complications associated with the different medical procedures. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (2016) has established Hospital Compare to help acquire information regarding inpatient and outpatient services provided by different hospitals.
Differences Between Inpatient and Outpatient Facilities
Inpatient and outpatient facilities differ with regards to how long a patient must stay at the facility when undergoing clinical procedures and medical treatments. Inpatient facilities generally require patient to stay within the hospital when undergoing the clinical procedures. In most cases, inpatient facilities require a patient to stay at the hospital for at least one night when undergoing treatment. Patients stay at the inpatient facility during the clinical processes because they need the supervision of a physician or nurse during recovery from their condition. On the contrary, outpatient facilities do not require patients to stay at the hospital when undergoing medical treatment. These facilities are usually suitable for patients who don’t have any serious complications or require supervision during treatment. After undergoing treatment at such facilities, patients are free to leave the clinic, hospital or physician’s office.
Purpose and Significance of these Facilities
The purpose and significance of inpatient facilities is to provide a suitable environment for patients with serious complications to recover from their conditions under supervision from a physician or nurse. On the contrary, the purpose and significance of outpatient facilities is to provide an environment where patients without serious complications or conditions can easily access treatment and recover from their illness while at home. Outpatient facilities basically help in reducing hospitalization of patients and costs of healthcare services.
Use of Inpatient and Outpatient Facilities
Given the differences in their purpose and significance, inpatient facilities are utilized by patients with serious medical conditions and complications that require supervision by a physician or nurse during recovery. On the contrary, outpatient facilities are utilized by patients with minor conditions whose recovery does not necessarily require overnight supervision by a physician or nurse.
Changes in Inpatient and Outpatient Facilities
Over the past decade, there have been some changes in inpatient and outpatient processes, work, and facilities. One of these changes is the increased adoption of new, advanced medical technology in patient care processes in both inpatient and outpatient facilities. Secondly, clinicians in both inpatient and outpatient facilities are demanding for improved Electronic Health Records (EHRs) because of focus on enhanced interoperability of these systems. This demand is fueled by the fact that EHRs have developed to become intrinsic and vital parts of clinical processes in inpatient and outpatient facilities (Miliard, 2017).
Type of Health Information Management (HIM) Professionals
Baylor University Medical Center has adopted medical technology as an indispensable part of its clinical processes. Consequently, the hospital has different health information management (HIM) professionals working in its IT department. These types of HIM professionals include clinical data specialists, health information manager, and health information technicians. The role of health information manager is to help establish policies and coordinate activities that help in adoption of electronic medical records and their use in patient care processes (Becker, 2017). The challenges of HIM is to ensure that electronic health records are filed correctly and promoting seamless transition from use of paper to electronic medical records. On the contrary, clinical data specialists act as data specialists who ensure standard data sets are implemented and promote data integrity and quality. The challenge of clinical data specialists is to ensure enhanced data quality and integrity to increase customer satisfaction.
- Baylor Scott & White Health. (2015). Graduate Medical Education. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from http://www.baylorhealth.edu/Education/gradmeded/Pages/default.aspx
- Baylor Scott & White Health. (2018). Our History. Retrieved January 31, 2018, from https://www.bswhealth.com/locations/dallas/about/Pages/history.aspx
- Becker, J. (2017, February 17). An HIM Manager’s Role in Patient Engagement [Sponsored]. Retrieved February 1, 2018, from http://journal.ahima.org/2017/02/17/an-him-managers-role-in-patient-engagement-sponsored/
- Burke, L., & Weill, B. (2012). Information technology for the health profession (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
- Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. (2016, October 19). Hospital Compare. Retrieved from U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services website: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/quality-initiatives-patient-assessment-instruments/hospitalqualityinits/hospitalcompare.html
- Garner, L.F. & Bufton, K.A. (2001, October). History of Nursing at Baylor University Medical Center. Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings, 14(4), 385-405.
- Gartee, R. (2011). Health information technology and management. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
- Miliard, M. (2017, October 9). EHR Satisfaction Survey 2017: After Years of Frustrations, User Wish-list Turns Positive. HealthcareIT News. Retrieved February 1, 2018, from http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/ehr-satisfaction-survey-2017-after-years-frustrations-user-wish-list-turns-positive