Free Paper Example on Managing Hospital Bed Capacity

Executive Brief: Proposal of New Economic Opportunity

The paper involves the application of standard discharge criteria based on available proof and expert consensus eliminating discharge delays in the healthcare, as having shortages in the healthcare builds up the pressure on the nurses and leads to improper care of the patients. The proposal implies the use of a procedure that involves inputting data electronically to allow for a new release method that focuses on patient's first need, i.e., discharging only when medically ready, a step forward towards ensuring patients safety. The proposal allows for hospitals to have around 38% increases in patients released within two hours. Hence more cash is saved in the healthcare.

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The electronic input of data details that indicates whether the patient is ready to be released will allow nurses to know which patients to release first and which patients should stick around for more medical care.

Also, in the healthcare facilities, bed capacity management is a significant problem because ineffectual releases impact patient flow, rise cost, and slow care. Without having data input electronically, results in the risk of releasing a patient before their full recovery. Also, lack of enough beds leads to delayed transfers and admissions, which results in the health care losing more money and trust from their patients.

The proposal presents an economic opportunity at the micro level, as mostly different departments have a different number of beds and staff. Hence the nurses at the various levels will be able to release patients who have received proper medical care and can be discharged. Often, this will allow more patients to be admitted to the different departments.

Hence, results to financial gain to both patients and the department. At the macro level, the hospital at large and the patients will benefit. The patients will use less money at the hospital as they are carefully being monitored and the hospital will gain more due to an increase of successfully treated patients.

Ethical and Culturally Equitable

This project allows nurses to be observant and signal when patients are healthy and can be released. Medical doctors can better prioritize first rounding. Communicating patient needs to be steady, regardless of time of day also filling processes should be transparent to enable hospitals to manage patients. Hence patients can only be released when they are well. Also, the initiative prioritizes patient's needs, so patients will be discharged when they are ready, not when the medical bed is urgently needed (Belciug and Gorunescu, 2015).

Why this Economic Initiative will Result in Improvement

The proposal will ensure 80% of suitable patients are discharged within at least two hours of meeting required standards. The new initiative will bring about cost saving to families, the hospital, and health plans, As more beds, will be available due to the discharge system. Hence more patients can be taken care of (Best et al. 2015).

Economic and Demographic Data

In the healthcare accidental discharges and lengthy delays are still barriers to efficient patient flow, hence having a system that can gradually decrease the overflow of patients will be of great assistant. For instance sick women, men, and children are at risk of being discharged without receiving proper medical care, which is unethical. However, the system will allow for each person's health status to be input hence nurses can know the status of patients. Thus, the healthcare can receive more patients

The demand for this system is high, for instance, according to Delia 2007, the dissatisfaction of patients as it results in their release before full treatment or disappointment with the performance. Hence the demand to increase efficiency while discharging and admitting patients is high. The patients include people of different ages and gender. The need for seeking medical attention is high and careful treating the patient results to economic gain to both the hospital and the patients. Hence admitting more patients as staff and beds are available.

Economic and Environmental Data

The project allows for hospitals to have around 38% increases in patients discharged within two hours. Hence more cash (around $ 5.8 million) is saved in the healthcare. The demand is high as many hospitals are trying to curb this issue and the procedures and equipment to fully implement the system can easily be obtained, and the initiative spearheaded. Luckily, the cost of implementing this system is low, and the returns are high. Hence it's advisable to have the system within the healthcare ( Teno et al. 2016).

Discharging of more patients when they have not fully recovered results to lose of patients and they had in the healthcare. More patients will prefer other facilities that take good care of them and does not keep them waiting. Hence having to gain patients trust and being in a position to control the discharge and admission of patients will benefit the hospitals and the different departments. More patients being satisfied is of advantage to the hospital.

Conclusion

Applying the system to healthcare will allow acknowledging and separating different flows of patients, work enabling each patient and staff to move according to their logic and pace.

References

Belciug, S., & Gorunescu, F. (2015). Improving hospital bed occupancy and resource utilization through queuing modeling and evolutionary computation. Journal of biomedical informatics, 53, 261-269.

Best, T. J., Sandikci, B., Eisenstein, D. D., & Meltzer, D. O. (2015). Managing hospital inpatient bed capacity through partitioning care into focused wings. Manufacturing & Service Operations Management, 17(2), 157-176

DeLia, D. (2007). Hospital capacity, patient flow, and emergency department use in New Jersey. Rutgers Center for State Health Policy

Teno, J. M., Gozalo, P., Khandelwal, N., Curtis, J. R., Meltzer, D., Engelberg, R., & Mor, V. (2016). Association of increasing use of mechanical ventilation among nursing home residents with advanced dementia and intensive care unit beds. JAMA internal medicine, 176(12), 1809-1816.