Ancillary services for medical urgent cares can differentiate your practice from others, in turn improving patient satisfaction and safety, while reducing medication errors.
When a patient steps into an urgent care facility, they depend on a number of services beyond emergency care. These are called ancillary services, and they’re an integral part of the healthcare industry because they help to accurately diagnose and treat patients.
But what are ancillary services, exactly? Learn more about ancillary care and how it can benefit acute care settings.
What Is Ancillary Care?
Ancillary care refers to services that function to diagnose and treat patients. They support the healthcare services that nurses and doctors offer. Some examples of ancillary services include:
- Radiology
- Physical therapy
- Dialysis services
- Diagnostic imaging
- Physical therapy
- Speech therapy
- Audiology services
- Genetic testing
- Chiropractic services
- Rehabilitation services
- Cardiac monitoring
- Hospice care
- Ventilator services
- Occupational therapy
- Laboratory services
Ancillary services typically fit into one of three categories:
- Diagnostic Services: Help healthcare providers determine the condition a patient has
- Therapeutic Services: Focus on helping patients improve their health
- Custodial Services: Assist patients who have chronic conditions and disabilities
Without access to ancillary care services, healthcare providers would not be able to accurately diagnose patients or offer appropriate treatment. These services enhance patient care, offer support, and address many aspects of wellness. Ancillary care also helps improve healthcare workflows, bringing faster answers to physicians and resulting in more efficient patient care.
What Are Ancillary Services in a Hospital?
In a hospital setting, ancillary services help reduce the workload of healthcare professionals like doctors and nurses. Without these services, the nursing shortages that have affected the country would be even more serious.
In a hospital, ancillary services focus on diagnosing and treating conditions, including mental health concerns. They help improve in-patient care outcomes.
In an urgent care setting, however, there’s less time to send patients to different departments for tests. Diagnostic services have to be on hand, as do therapeutic ancillary services, to quickly assist patients dealing with health emergencies.
The Role of Ancillary Medical Services in Urgent Care
Ancillary care in urgent care centers saves healthcare providers time, which means being able to act rapidly to help patients. The ability to get blood work, X-rays, and urine testing done quickly can enhance acute care. Instead of needing to send patients out to facilities, urgent care centers that have services like imaging and laboratory testing can significantly help patient outcomes.
Most providers don’t consider the need for certain types of therapeutic services in urgent care centers, including rehabilitation services, but they can be essential. If a patient comes in with an acute sports injury, not only will they get an accurate diagnosis in urgent care, but they can also begin the rehab they require to heal.
Some of the most common examples of ancillary services in urgent care settings are imaging services like MRIs and radiology. Others include laboratory tests, chiropractic care, and physical therapy.
Benefits of Ancillary Care in Urgent Care Centers
Ancillary care provides a number of benefits for urgent care centers, with enhanced patient outcomes and satisfaction being among the most important. Patients can get immediate answers about their health issues and receive appropriate treatments without delay.
Ancillary services also assist in streamlining workflows. Using digital health platforms, for example, can improve the speed and accuracy of communications between departments and providers, allowing them to make changes to treatments quickly.
The faster that providers obtain diagnostic results, the better the outcome can be for patients. Ancillary care allows for greater accuracy in diagnosing because providers get results at once, allowing them to better coordinate treatments with other healthcare professionals and tailor treatment plans for their patients.
Ancillary services also reduce patient wait times. Patients don’t need to schedule follow-up appointments to get their results, which has the potential to reduce stress and allow them to receive treatment more rapidly.
Ancillary Services and Medication Dispensing
Medication dispensing services are essential for urgent care settings. These services ensure that commonly prescribed medications are immediately available for patients who need them and that there are fewer medication errors that can lead to negative patient outcomes.
Medication dispensing also helps to improve adherence since patients will receive all of the instructions and information they need directly from a physician. They are given medication education as well to help them understand their treatment better. Dispensing also allows for a more personalized approach to patient care.
Some of the most commonly prescribed medications include those used to treat:
- Infections (antibiotics)
- Allergies and asthma
- Short-term pain
- Blood pressure issues
- Stomach problems
- Diabetes
Ancillary services assist with medication dispensing. If you have diagnostic testing services, you can immediately offer patients the medications most appropriate for treating their conditions.
Improving Patient Outcomes With Ancillary Care and Dispensing
A clear example of how important ancillary services are for urgent care centers is the integration of respiratory therapists into emergency settings. In many hospitals, respiratory therapists have worked with operating room technicians to provide patients with fast support.
Because patients can save not only time but also money when ancillary services are provided in urgent care, they’re more likely to get treatment if they have concerns regarding costs. Ancillary services offer benefits such as providing less expensive testing. Patients are more likely to seek medical care if they know the process will be affordable and quick.
Urgent care dispensing allows them to avoid having to physically visit a pharmacy as well. Such travel could be an issue for those with mobility problems or transportation concerns.
Setting Up Ancillary Services in Urgent Care Centers
When setting up ancillary services, you need to first analyze the urgent care center. What services do patients most often require? What’s missing from the center, resulting in patients not getting quick treatment? The answers can point you to gaps in care that you can fill using ancillary services.
You also need to consider the existing infrastructure. The amount and type of space available can help you narrow down the services you’re able to offer.
Take the time to also get a clear idea of the kind of investment you will need, and then compare it to the potential ROI. You want to have a good sense of the numbers before implementing these services.
Seamless integration is essential, which is why it’s so important to work with both the physical and technological infrastructure you have. Remember that you want to ease things for providers and patients, not add complications. This means doing things like placing medication dispensing services at logical points to avoid requiring patients to cross half the facility.
You want the ancillary services to integrate into the technology you use to communicate with other departments and providers. Find options that don’t require re-training the entire staff. Instead, your changes should complement the existing technologies.
It’s important to be aware of regulatory compliance, too. You need to ensure that you comply with the Anti-Kickback Statute, Stark Law, all state fraud and abuse laws, and any relevant physician dispensing laws.
Challenges and Solutions
Implementing these services does have its challenges, however. Lack of planning is a concern, with providers diving into new services without having the infrastructure in place to accommodate them. Ensuring that you have a strategy in place and that you assess how beginning ancillary services can impact daily care can help you avoid the most serious issues.
Another major concern is the potential lack of compatibility in the systems used by ancillary service providers when it comes to billing, coding, and even monitoring patient care. Relying on the right technology is one of the best ways of addressing this challenge.
The Role of Technology in Ancillary Care and Dispensing
Medication dispensing only works if there’s a robust program in place that can handle inventory. Technology streamlines the medication reconciliation process so that medication lists throughout the facility are updated to be as accurate as possible. This helps prevent medication errors.
The widespread adoption of electronic healthcare records has been very helpful. It has assisted health professionals, including those offering ancillary services, in providing better care by improving communication between providers.
Medication verification technologies are crucial for dispensing as well. They enhance medication safety by tracking and identifying medications before they’re dispensed. Medication verification offers real-time monitoring.
Proficient Rx and Ancillary Care
Proficient Rx offers in-office dispensing services that come with a user-friendly web-based system that maintains compliance with the FDA, DEA, and state boards of pharmacy. For urgent care centers, Proficient Rx can help dispense prepackaged medications with a platform that monitors dispensing to help you maintain accurate stock.
Working with Proficient Rx can help you improve patient care while boosting your revenue. Having medication dispensing also improves workflow by reducing the time staff members spend on hold with pharmacies to place prescriptions.
Importance of Ancillary Care
Ancillary care and dispensing services allow patients to receive comprehensive assistance when they come to an urgent care center. They can get quicker treatment, which can improve their outcome. These services also help providers by streamlining processes and increasing the chances of patients complying with their treatment.
Integrating physician dispensing companies and ancillary services into your urgent care center can give your facility the opportunity to become more efficient and useful to patients.
Choose Proficient Rx
Contact Proficient Rx to learn more about how Proficient Rx works and how medication dispensing services can help your urgent care center.
