American Hospital Association “Costly Cutbacks”

Transcript (Download)

One, oh, one, fifty.

That's about how much it costs to stay one day in a hospital.

About one hundred dollars.

Sometimes more, sometimes less.

A lot of money.

Of course, if you're willing to settle for less, we can cut it back.

For instance, we can shorten the hours of your hospital around the clock emergency department.

Make it nine to five Monday through Friday, ten to two on Saturday, and close on Sunday.

Anytime you drop a few shifts of highly trained hospital people, you affect quite a savings.

How about your hospital's blood bank? We can trim costs by shutting it down.

And you'd be surprised.

Most people will never miss it.

Here's an expensive department with a lot of sophisticated diagnostic machines.

Actually, the round -the -clock staff that operates all this equipment is more costly than the machines.

I guess you know how to save money here.

Surgery is another costly service.

If you could just eliminate one nurse and one technical assistant from each surgical team, you would cut costs several dollars a day per patient.

Every hospital has emergency respirator equipment.

This one costs over $5 ,000.

It's idle most of the time between emergencies.

Let's idle it permanently and watch the average cost of one day in a hospital drop further.

Now we're coming to the average hospital's most dramatic department, the coronary care unit.

Crammed with machines to monitor every patient's heart beat by beat, with emergency equipment to stimulate anyone that falters, and with skilled specialists constantly on the alert.

It's your hospital's most impressive team of men and machines.

It has doubled the survival rate of coronary victims.

But it's among the most expensive to maintain.

Many lives begin here each day, and each one is like no other before it.

But you know, maternity services and facilities never pay for themselves.

Another simple cutback, rehabilitation services like physical therapy.

It's a lot cheaper to turn the job of retraining patients over to their families.

How about nurses? Hospitals are full on.

Registered nurses, practical nurses, nurses' aides.

Eliminate some of them, and it stands to reason you eliminate some of the costs.

Only trouble is, you might just eliminate someone when you need them.

But wait a minute, is that what you really want? A hospital that costs way under $100 a day by being understaffed and under -equipped? A hospital that lowers costs by cutting services? Your American Hospital Association and your local hospital know it isn't.

We also know there are no easy answers to rising costs.

Are we working on them? You bet your life we are.

Identifier

F.2010-01-0258

Date Of Production

1971

Abstract

A sponsored film made by the Goldsholl Associates for the American Hospital Association. Through live action sequences, still photography and animation, the film illustrates the various expenses of a hospital and how "costly cutbacks" would affect the facility and the health care they provide.

Run Time

0:04:59

Format

16mm

Extent

175 feet

Color

Color

Sound

Optical

Reel/Tape Number

1/1

Has Been Digitized?

Yes

Language Of Materials

English

Element

Print

Genre

Sponsored
Industrial

Form

Short

Subject

Medicine
Health
American Hospital Association

Related Collections

SERIES I: Goldsholl Design & Film Associates Films

Related Places

North America ➜ United States ➜ Illinois ➜ Chicago

Sponsor/client

American Medical Association

Main Credits

The Creative Works (is producer)

Goldsholl Design & Film Associates (is producer)

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