The relationship between in-hospital location and outcomes of care in patients of a large general medical service
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Date
2012-12-24
Authors
Perimal-Lewis, Lua
Li, Jordan Yuanzhi
Hakendorf, Paul Haylett
Ben-Tovim, David Isaac
Qin, Shaowen
Thompson, Campbell Henry
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Wiley-Blackwell
Rights
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Abstract
Background: The discrepancy between the number of admissions and the allocation of hospital beds means many patients admitted under the care of a general medical service can be placed in other departments’ wards. These patients are called “outliers” and their outcomes are unknown.
Aims: To examine the relation between the proportion of time each patient spent in their “home ward” during an index admission and the outcomes of that hospital stay.
Methods: Data from Flinders Medical Centre’s (FMC) patient journey database were extracted and analysed. The analysis was carried out on the patient journeys of patients admitted under the General Medicine units.
Results: Outlier patients’ length of stay (LOS) was significantly shorter than that of the inlier patients (110.7 hours cf 141.9 hours; p < 0.001).They had a reduced risk of readmission within 28 days of discharge from hospital. Outlier patients’ discharge summaries were less likely to be completed within a week (64.3% cf 78.0%; p < 0.001). Being an outlier patient increased the risk-adjusted risk of in-hospital mortality by over 40%. 50% of deaths in the outlier group occurred within 48 hours of admission. Outlier patients had spent longer in the Emergency Department (ED) waiting for a bed (6.3 hours cf 5.3 hours; p < 0.001) but duration of ED stay was not an independent predictor of mortality risk.
Conclusion: Outlier patients had significantly shorter LOS in hospital, but significantly greater in-patient death rates. Surviving outlier patients had lower rates of readmission but lower rates of discharge summary completion.
Description
Keywords
Mathematics, Health care, Hospital inpatients
Citation
Perimal-Lewis, L., Li, J., Hakendorf, P., Ben-Tovim, D., Qin, S. and Thompson, C., 2012. The relationship between in-hospital location and outcomes of care in patients of a large general medical service. Internal Medicine Journal. DOI: 10.1111/imj.12066