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https://hdl.handle.net/2440/79235
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Type: | Journal article |
Title: | Relationship between in-hospital location and outcomes of care in patients of a large general medical service |
Author: | Perimal-Lewis, L. Li, J. Hakendorf, P. Ben-Tovim, D. Qin, S. Thompson, C. |
Citation: | Internal Medicine Journal, 2013; 43(6):712-716 |
Publisher: | Blackwell Publishing Asia |
Issue Date: | 2013 |
ISSN: | 1444-0903 1445-5994 |
Statement of Responsibility: | L. Perimal-Lewis, J. Y. Li, P. H. Hakendorf, D. I. Ben-Tovim, S. Qin and C. H. Thompson |
Abstract: | Background: The discrepancy between the number of admissions and the allocation of hospital beds means that 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 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 was significantly shorter than that of the inlier patients (110.7 h cf 141.9 h; 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%. Fifty per cent of deaths in the outlier group occurred within 48 h of admission. Outlier patients had spent longer in the emergency department waiting for a bed (6.3 h cf 5.3 h; P < 0.001) but duration of emergency department stay was not an independent predictor of mortality risk. Conclusion: Outlier patients had significantly shorter length of stay in hospital but significantly greater in-patient death rates. Surviving outlier patients had lower rates of readmission but lower rates of discharge summary completion. |
Keywords: | healthcare delivery home ward outcome ward inlier ward outlier |
Rights: | © 2012 The Authors |
DOI: | 10.1111/imj.12066 |
Published version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/imj.12066 |
Appears in Collections: | Aurora harvest 4 Medicine publications |
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