Fuller inpatient units may be associated with lower mortality, according to a study published in the International Journal of Evidence-Based Healthcare.
Researchers collected data from nine hospitals over more than four years, estimating the effect of bed occupancy rates on several patient safety indicators, including rates of hospital infection and mortality. While hospital-acquired infections remained similar across all bed occupancy rates, higher bed occupancy rates correlated with reduced institutional mortality.
According to researchers, who were attempting to test the idea that bed occupancy rates over 85 percent are unsafe, the results were unexpected.
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