Module 3 Summary

The United States has a mixed healthcare model containing both public and private healthcare
organizations. These healthcare practices further have subcategories which describe how healthcare is
delivered to the people. Healthcare facilities across the US are divided into inpatient healthcare facilities
(when a patient requires overnight care) and outpatient facilities (when overnight care is not required).
Meanwhile, if the patient being treated in an acute care hospital has completed 25 days and still
requires further but not extensive care, they are then transferred to a long-term care facility, which
assist them until they have fully recovered and can take care of themselves.

If a person gets sick, their first stop for healthcare services will be primary care physician. In case if the
patient needs extensive treatment, they are then referred by the primary physician to a specialist also
termed as secondary care. Now if the specialist determines that more advanced treatment is required,
the patient is then referred to tertiary care where special treatments or procedures are performed
under strict monitoring. This whole process can be termed as coordination of care, where multiple
healthcare providers are involved in a patient’s treatment.

The healthcare organizations (HCOs) in the US can have different forms or management structures. The
CEO, COO and CFO are mainly responsible for handling the objectives, day-to-day operations and
financial operations of an HCO, respectively. The tasks defined by these individuals are then performed
by the entire medical staff.