Products

The Shift in Care Locations, and How Dukal Serves the Entire Continuum of Care

Ambulatory care is one of the fastest-growing and highest-margin segments of the healthcare industry. A 2021 forecast from Vizient, Inc. and its subsidiary company Sg2, projects a rapid recovery of services following COVID-19, followed by a tremendous shift in health care delivery as services move from hospitals to other care facilities.^[1] Policy changes, virtual and digital innovations, and the shift to lower-cost settings will further restructure the current care system. 

Hospital capacity across the US has been overwhelmed following the outbreak of COVID-19. Pressure on acute care settings has raised awareness of ambulatory care's vital role in the healthcare landscape by providing alternative sites for necessary procedures.

And while COVID-19 has accelerated the interest in ambulatory care, this shift has been in the works for several reasons: [2]

• Often more conveniently located than hospitals
• Ambulatory surgical centers allow patients to be discharged within 23 hours of care, reducing the risk of infection and allowing recovery to take place at home
• More intimate than the hospital, ambulatory options give patients a greater sense of personalized care and contact with their care team
• Reduced costs to both patients and payers

Though ambulatory surgery is not appropriate for all patients, its increasing presence is reflective of a broader healthcare trend. The rise of ambulatory sites reflects how medical care has been shifting out of hospitals and into outpatient sites. While hospital care is still the largest segment of the healthcare market overall, a disproportionate share of growth will be in ambulatory settings in the coming years. 

Changing healthcare locations [1]

• Hospital outpatient departments and ambulatory surgery centers (ACS) will continue to experience patient growth (19% and 25% by 2029), with patient volumes projected to increase by 15 million from 2019 to 2029. In addition, the shift in procedures from inpatient to outpatient will help drive down the cost of surgical procedures
• Outpatient surgery shift will accelerate as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services eliminates all procedures on the inpatient-only list (more than 1,700 codes) and expands the number of ASC-covered procedures by 278 by the end of 2023
• Physician clinics will see pronounced declines in in-person visits (-19%) as patients shift to virtual, but those patients seen in the office will be more likely to need specialized diagnostic services. Non-visit services in physician clinics, such as office-based diagnostics, laboratory testing, and imaging, are projected to grow 18% by 2029

What does this shift in healthcare locations mean for medical manufacturing?

As the shift in healthcare locations continues, mergers and acquisitions are a natural response as healthcare entities keep up with the ever-expanding landscape. Healthcare manufacturers need to serve the entire continuum of care and provide better outcomes with quality products at a lower cost. Additionally, with PPE utilization still at record levels, healthcare systems need trusted partners who can guarantee inventory so that healthcare professionals can focus solely on the well-being of patients. 

How is Dukal meeting the needs of the transitioning healthcare landscape?

Dukal is meeting the needs of healthcare professionals through our No Obligation Spend Analysis and Guaranteed Inventory Programs. We recognize the importance of being a trusted partner in the healthcare continuum to ensure our partners have what they need when they need it.

Identifying the goals of the changing health system - the well-being of patients and all who serve them is at the heart of what we do. 

No Obligation Spend Analysis

Standardization of products across the continuum of care provides healthcare systems with a reduced skew count, reduced storage, and lower costs. As the third-largest manufacturer of medical disposables in the US, Dukal can cross-reference over 1,000 line items to meet all of your healthcare needs. 

Guaranteed Inventory Program

Dukal provides full transparency from purchase to delivery. Well-versed in every product, our customer service team has the flexibility and education to respond specifically to each customer's need or requirement. By developing a collaborative forecast and safety stock program with clients, our robust disaster recovery plan, along with regular and transparent inventory status updates, we are committed to getting your inventory to you. Further, our redundant sources of product and two warehouses provide recovery plan options to continue operations and inventory, even in times 

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