Dr. Livtak, who discussed his view in a Wall Street Journal op-ed, notes many hospitals suffer from perceived increases in demand on certain days of the week. He argues that this demand is artificial. Rather than being a product of differential emergency department volumes, it is created by scheduling too many inpatient admissions on the same day, thus creating a situation in which hospitals haven’t planned for all patients they should be expecting.
Dr. Livtak suggests hospitals consider already scheduled admissions as a factor in scheduling admissions of additional patients with planned procedures.
Understanding the relative constancy in emergency department volumes and overlaying a consistent, rather than sporadic, influx of patients into beds can save hospitals significant sums of money. He cites the case of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, which saved $100 million through one year of streamlining inpatient admissions. Hospitals in a New Jersey project have had similar results, shortening patient stays, reducing rates of hospital-acquired infections, slashing mortality rates and improving nurse staffing ratios as a result.
More Articles on Capacity Management:
Dedicated Observation Units Could Streamline Capacity, Improve Care
Study: Busier Beds May Be Associated With Lower Mortality
How Mt. Sinai Medical Center Reduced Admission Wait Times With Bed-Tracking Technology
