Improving Provider Efficiency at the Local Level

This study reviewed developments in provider utilization related to health care in the metropolitan area of the Syracuse hospitals between the twentieth century and the twenty first century with respect to major hospital services. In this study, a decline in the utilization of inpatient hospitals developed between 2020 and 2022. During this period, use of additional outpatient services such as ambulatory surgery, individual practitioners, outside hospitals, and the use of hospital emergency departments developed in the community. The study data demonstrated that between 2020 and 2022, the numbers of discharges from the combined hospitals declined for both adult medicine and adult surgery. Inpatient discharges declined by 2730 patients for adult medicine and 1961 patients for adult surgery. The data also demonstrated that between 2022 and 2024, the numbers of discharges increased by 1998 discharges for adult medicine and by 229 for adult surgery. As followup to this study, health care providers and payors should review approaches to efficiency in their communities and evaluate their impact on health care efficiency.