Appropriate admissions to the appropriate unit: a decision tree approach.

Publication/Presentation Date

1-1-2005

Abstract

An intermediate care decision tree tool was developed to meet the demand for intermediate care beds. Concurrently, a charging process was developed to support the acuity adaptable model of care, allowing the patient to remain in the same bed from admission to discharge, regardless of level of care required, adjusting nurse-to-patient ratios as acuity changes. Since beginning this pilot, 96% to 100% of the patients admitted to intermediate care from the emergency department met the criteria. Wait time from request to admission was reduced from 5.5 hours to 2.5 hours. A reduction in nursing costs was noted. The average number of patients waiting daily in the emergency department for an intermediate care bed has been reduced by approximately 80%. A significant difference in length of stay was not noted.

Volume

20

Issue

2

First Page

90

Last Page

97

ISSN

1062-8606

Disciplines

Business Administration, Management, and Operations | Health and Medical Administration | Management Sciences and Quantitative Methods

PubMedID

15851387

Department(s)

Administration and Leadership

Document Type

Article

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