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What makes a successful hospitalist-run short stay?

Hospitalist Leadership Connection, June 23, 2009

Diagnostic tests and consultative services are the most important indicators for successful short-stay units, according to “A Hospitalist-Run Short-Stay Unit: Features that Predict Length of Stay and Eventual Admission to Traditional Inpatient Services,” published in the May issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

Available in one-third of U.S. hospitals, short-stay units are typically located next to emergency departments to observe low-risk chest pain patients, for example. Today, short-stay units provide more complex inpatient services, according to researchers at Stroger Hospital of Cook County and Rush Medical College, both in Chicago.

Researchers considered a short stay successful if patients stayed at the hospital fewer than 72 hours and did not require admission to the traditional inpatient service. Unsuccessful stays were due to inaccessibility of diagnostic tests and the need for specialty consultation. The study indicates that hospitalists should promote access to these services.

Although ED physicians may raise concerns that short-stay units will slow down patient flow, patients in short-stay units usually only require brief consultations, according to the study. “To address these questions, hospitalists who staff [short-stay units] must continue the observed trend of working collaboratively with ED physicians,” states the study.

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