Hospitalists pay attention to length of stay as a measure of hospital efficiency and resource utilization; outliers on that measure – “long stay patients” – who present complex discharges are a barrier to length of stay reduction. To address this challenge, one institution formed a multidisciplinary Long Stay Committee and described the results in an abstract.
The Long Stay Committee is composed of medical directors, the chief quality officer, directors in nursing, directors of case management/social work, hospitalists, risk management, finance, ethics, psychiatry, and directors of rehabilitation. The most complex patient discharges, identified by case management and social work, are brought to the Long Stay Committee.
“Lack of guardianship is one of the most encountered barriers,” according to the authors. “The Long Stay Committee played an integral part in our institution partnering with the local county to form a guardian service board which facilitates guardianship appointments. Other solutions have included working with the patient and support persons to find appropriate discharge levels of care throughout the United States and other countries as well as guiding them through the process to gain the necessary financial resources.”
The authors conclude that the foundation of the committee’s success in coming up with innovative discharge solutions is the broad range of disciplines that attend this committee and the atmosphere of teamwork it creates.
Reference
Heacock A et al. Long Stay Committee finds innovative discharge plans for difficult discharges. Hospital Medicine 2018, Abstract 312. .