There has been more and more talk about “micro-hospitals” over the last few years, but some confusion over what exactly a micro-hospital is. Hopefully, in this short article, we can provide a basic level of understanding about this newer type of facility, and how it is meeting a need in the world of healthcare.
There are five basic points that you need to know about this emerging trend:
1. Lower-cost care. Microhospitals, also referred to as neighborhood hospitals, can provide lower-cost treatment for its patients compared to larger traditional hospitals. Additionally, these smaller neighborhood facilities are often located in areas where the demand for a full-sized hospital is not present.
2. Smaller and More Efficient. The average size of these microhospitals range from as small as 15,000 SF up to 60,000 SF or more. This compares to mega-sized traditional hospitals as large as several hundred thousand square feet. Proponents of microhospitals argue these smaller facilities provide many of the same services that the larger hospitals provide, and with evolving technology, can lower patient costs.
3. Fewer Beds. Due to fewer beds, as few as eight to ten in some microhospitals, compared to many typical large hospitals that number 250+ beds, these facilities can provide more personalized care to patients and provide it closer to their homes. For health systems, this represents a much less costly way to provide healthcare to patients in particular locations.
4. Personalized Patient Care and Attention. Because of the much smaller size and fewer patients, microhospitals can offer shorter wait times and length of stays, faster discharges, while still delivering high-quality care. For a health system that wants to protect its brand, this keeps the patient in the system, by offering these services in a patient-friendly environment for procedures that do not require a larger hospital.
Not Meant to Replace the Mega Hospital. Although there are a lot of benefits to the microhospital concept, as described above, medical professionals say that the larger hospitals have the resources to handle much more complex procedures, compared to microhospitals, which are less surgical in nature that their larger, more traditional counterpart.
