When it comes to healthcare, people often think of doctors and nurses first, but ancillary services far outnumber the number doctors and nurses. According to Ancillary Care services (2017), ancillary care is one of the fastest growing areas of healthcare, these areas account for nearly 30 percent of medical spending today.The work of doctors and nurses would not function effectively without ancillary services. Ancillary services can be categorized into three categories: custodial, diagnostic, and therapeutic (Ancillary Medical Solutions, 2014). Ancillary services are primarily utilized in hospitals and clinics. Some examples of ancillary services may include, but are not limited to (Ancillary Medical Solutions, 2014):
- Audiology
- Durable medical equipment
- Kidney dialysis
- Pharmacy
- Occupational therapy
- Speech therapy
- Physical therapy
- Imaging
- Weight management
- Home health care
- Pulmonary testing
- Nutrition education
- Home infusion
- Laboratory
- Cardiac rehabilitation
- Cardiac testing
- Diabetes education
- Assisted living facility
- Hospice
- Radiology
- Skilled nursing facility
- Fitness center
Ancillary services provide services to patients that enhance their care, services and safety. If a patient cannot get out of bed after surgery, they are an increased risk for medical complication that can impact their health or increase their length of stay. Physical therapy, a therapeutic ancillary service can be provided to the patient to help them safely rehabilitate and prevent complications and deconditioning. Another example would be, a patient using outpatient laboratory services to have PT/INRs drawn so that their primary physician can insure the patient’s Warfarin is therapeutic. These two examples show the need for ancillary service to provide optimal care for patients. Though this was said previously in the course, but it bears repeating, doctors and nurses need ancillary services to do their job effectively to provide optimal care to patients. It is obvious to see why ancillary services are so important, but the management is more complicated in the context of healthcare reimbursement.