Ambulatory care is any medical care delivered on an outpatient basis.

Increasing numbers of medical conditions do not require hospital admission and can be managed without admission to a hospital. Many medical investigations can be performed on an ambulatory basis, including blood tests, X-rays, endoscopy and even biopsy procedures of superficial organs. Sites where ambulatory care can be delivered include: Physician offices This is the most common site for the delivery of ambulatory care. Physicians of many specialties deliver ambulatory care. These physicians include specialists in family medicine, internal medicine, obstetrics, gynaecology, cardiology, gastroenterology, endocrinology, ophthal mology, and dermatology. Hospital emergency departments Some visits to emergency departments result in hospital admission, so these would be considered emergency medicine visits rather than ambulatory care. Most visits to hospital emergency departments, however, do not require hospital admission. Many of these visits are not true emergencies and are better seen in an urgent care center. Urgent care centers The Urgent Care Association of America(UCAOA) estimates that over 15,000 urgent care centers deliver urgent care in the USA. These centers are designed to evaluate and treat conditions that are not severe enough to require treatment in a hospital emergency department but still require treatment beyond normal physician office hours or before a physician appointment is available.

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Care Classifications

Ambulatory care is generally classifiable in two groups: 1. Medical institution-based settings, including: Ambulatory care clinics, ambulatory surgery centers and emergency medical services. 2. Non-medical institution-based settings, including: School and prison health; vision, dental and pharmaceutical care.

Ambulatory Care Information Systems (n.)

1.(MeSH)Information

systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of ambulatory care services and facilities.

Ambulatory Information Systems

Mission: The importance of ambulatory care in our healthcare delivery system and the need to accelerate the adoption of Information technology continues to be increasingly important for the healthcare industry and HIMSS. The community helps HIMSS establish its strategic direction and official positions on issues relating to ambulatory IS. HIMSS is dedicated to strengthening its Ambulatory Care Initiative by continuing to work with providers, clinicians, practice managers, Regional Extension Centers (RECs), communities and the military to identify and demonstrate how Information technology can improve patient outcomes in the ambulatory patient care setting. Learn more about HIMSS' resources and tools in Ambulatory Practice IS >> Areas of Focus: The Ambulatory Care Information Systems Committee's initiatives are focused on leading change to remove barriers to IT adoption and increase the use of EMR/EHR to improve the quality of care and promote business systems integration in the ambulatory care setting. The committee is dedicated to growing our membership with representation from ambulatory care experts and promoting the use of information technology to allow for practice transformation by identifying, educating and participating with our members in the areas of:
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Communicating industry and government updates and trends related to information technology adoption Sharing areas of health information technology best practices and lessons learned to achieve meaningful use of EHRs and HIT Change management best practices and lessons learned

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Process and workflow improvement resources and tools Provide best practices and lessons learned for those practices that serve underserved communities Promoting continuity of care with health IT

If you would like to join the effort as the Society extends its benefits to reach the Ambulatory providers of healthcare, please review our Ambulatory Committees Task Force and Work Group (described below) or contact Valerie Knoke for additional information. To learn more about healthcare IT in ambulatory/outpatient care settings, visit our mainAmbulatory Care topic area, where you can learn about trends and news in areas like CHOs, EMR Adoption, and more.

ambulatory care information systems Information systems, usually computer-assisted, designed to store, manipulate, and retrieve information for planning, organizing, directing, and controlling administrative activities associated with the provision and utilization of ambulatory care services and facilities. ... (