title: Developing an outpatient ventricular assist device program to meet the needs of a "too successful" heart transplant program.
abstract: The VAD independent living program has clearly demonstrated that a traditional inpatient population can be successfully moved to an outpatient setting. Such a move can result in significant cost savings for the institution while increasing patient satisfaction. By moving the assist device patients to an outpatient facility, we improved the overall operational efficiency of the Medical Center and the MIMCU. Because of the overwhelming success of this project, the Medical Center's administration has become receptive to the benefits of exploring alternative outpatient care delivery systems. Faced with increased demands to decrease operational expenses cardiovascular managers must restructure service line programs and explore opportunities to move traditional inpatient care delivery systems to outpatient settings.
authors: Milton S. Hershey Medical Center, Hershey, PA, USA.
authors: K J
authors: KJ
authors: McGovern
mesh_terms: D000046:Academic Medical Centers / Q000458:organization & administration; D016507:Cardiology Service, Hospital / Q000458:organization & administration*; D017046:Cost Savings; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006353:Heart-Assist Devices; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration; D006801:Humans; D009937:Organizational Objectives; D010346:Patient Care Management / Q000458:organization & administration; D010360:Patient Transfer; D010414:Pennsylvania; D011357:Product Line Management; D016730:Program Development; D011788:Quality of Life; D012112:Residential Facilities / Q000191:economics / Q000458:organization & administration*; D014850:Waiting Lists