The future of accounting for doctors could be affected by proposals to deliver care closer to home for many patients.
In a report from the Confederation of British Industry, the organisation calls for raised levels of home care to help cope with an ageing population, along with interactive healthcare delivery through smartphone handsets and television sets.
This could save £1.3 billion per year on unnecessary hospital admissions, and a further £1.9 billion by reducing the amount of admin and travelling time that takes clinicians away from a patient-facing position.
“We urgently need to look at new ways to increase levels of home care which can delivery better outcomes for patients and savings for the NHS,” says CBI chief policy adviser Katja Hall.
“The use of technology, like interacting with patients through their TVs and equipping healthcare staff with smartphones to improve remote working, can help achieve this.”
Our Manchester accountants will, as always, be tracking any progress on these issues to determine how they might impact on accounting for doctors.
Depending on the way in which each individual is paid – based on time spent with patients, for example, or through expenses claims for transport costs – the shift towards more face-to-face contact and less time on the road could significantly alter healthcare accounting in the years to come.
Production
