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Strategy for determining local area need for cardiovascular surgical services
Public Health Reports (Washington, D.C. : 1974)
|January 1, 1976
Summary
Expansion of cardiovascular surgery services in Hartford is not recommended. A study found that focusing on probable service use, rather than unknown disease needs, is a more practical approach for facility planning.
Area of Science:
- Health Services Research
- Cardiovascular Surgery Planning
Background:
- A study was commissioned by the Connecticut State Council on Hospitals to assess cardiovascular surgery facilities in Hartford.
- Data on cardiovascular disease incidence/prevalence and surgical candidate criteria were insufficient for needs assessment.
- Existing methods for determining facility needs were inadequate due to data limitations.
Purpose of the Study:
- To evaluate the appropriateness of expanding cardiovascular surgery services in the Hartford area.
- To develop a practical mechanism for assessing healthcare facility needs based on probable service utilization.
Main Methods:
- Estimated potential caseloads using national and local cardiac surgery rate trends (1961-1969 and 1972).
- Assessed existing surgical unit capacity through onsite surveys of facilities, diagnostics, and personnel.
- Compared estimated caseloads with existing service capacities.
Main Results:
- Evidence suggested that expanding cardiac surgical services in Hartford would be inappropriate.
- The study identified a lack of data for traditional needs-based assessments.
- A comparison of projected caseloads with existing capacity indicated no immediate need for expansion.
Conclusions:
- The proposed methodology offers a practical approach to healthcare facility planning by focusing on probable service use.
- This method provides a more concrete basis for discussion than relying on immeasurable disease prevalence.
- Expansion of cardiovascular surgery services in the Hartford area was deemed inappropriate based on the study's findings.