Opinion: Spiritual counseling to keep hospital bills lower

Providing basic healthcare outside of hospitals is a growing trend; I work for MissionPoint Health Partners, which is an "accountable care organization," or ACO. These organizations are responsible for the quality and cost of healthcare for a given group of patients.I go to people's homes, because there is a need for spiritual care outside the hospital. It is a huge gap that only recently has started to be filled. Spiritual needs affect our ability to heal – and also affects our healthcare costs.