Among patients occupying acute-care beds, how many are not actually acute-care patients? A study of nearly 1,000 patients conducted at two teaching hospitals and published in the Journal of Healthcare Quality revealed 35 percent of patients occupying acute-care beds no longer had acute-care needs 30-days after hospitalization.
Of this 35 percent, more than half no longer had medical, nursing or patient needs. However, patients with needs most often required nursing or life-support services (88 percent).
Of patients no longer needing acute-care services, nearly 60 percent were waiting for other care, including palliative (36 percent), long-term (33 percent), rehabilitation (18 percent) and home care (12 percent).
Study authors concluded better management of post-acute-care resources could alleviate capacity management issues in acute-care units.
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