[WHY ARE SOME OF THE HOSPITALIZATIONS LENGTHS IN ISRAEL SO LONG?]

Prolonged hospitalizations are a major challenge for any society and to the Israeli health system in particular. Identifications of predictors underlines the areas that require comprehensive interventions to prevent long hospital stays. Analysis of the literature points out that discharges from internal medicine wards should be preplanned and coordinated. It is obvious that the care of those with special needs such as the elderly, dependent, lonely, disabled and patients with comorbidities mandates the development of proper community-based care that will be a continuation of in-hospital therapy. It seems inevitable that this urgent need will require a medical professional whose main task will be coordination of care in and out of the hospital.