Hospitals and Long-Term Care Facilities
Glennis Bogard
Dr. Angela J. Smith
Health Services Organization – HSA 500
February 17, 2011

Abstract
Hospitals can be set up as nonprofit or for-profit facilities. The differences between the nonprofit and for profit hospitals will be discussed. Hospitals have experienced different trends in the last thirty years. This paper will identify at least three major trends that have occurred within the hospital sector. Three examples that describe and differentiate the roles of hospitals and nursing homes are providing long-term care. The conclusion of this paper will be a brief critiquing of the current state of long-term care policy in the United States.

Hospitals and Long-Term Care
The specialty hospitals focus on such areas as cancer and heart disease as well as profitable fields like orthopedic surgery. The specialty hospitals as stated by Williams & Torrens (2008) show an increase of being owned partially by the physicians who practice in them. Some would make the argument that the specialty hospitals provide the best care while others see these hospitals as entities that “siphon off insured and relatively healthier patients leaving the less profitable and more complicated cases to community general hospitals” (Williams & Torrens, 2008, p. 194). Concerns raised by the physicians’ ownership of the specialty hospitals include but not limited to are that the financial incentives will affect the treatment decisions (i.e. diagnostic services) and also that the physicians will treat the less complicated but yet more profitable health care cases and leave the biggest burden of caring for the less fortunate, financially challenged and uninsured individuals to the community and public hospitals (Williams & Torrens, 2008) Another trend that has occurred within the hospital sector is in the field of technology. “Technology has shaped the physical and operational structures of hospitals, has affected the lives of patients and families, and has provided a delivery vehicle for physicians in clinical practice” (Williams & Torrens, 2008, p. 195). It is technological research that allows for the services hospitals