Short-Stay Hospitalizations and Hospital Capacity Constraints.

Area of Science:

• Healthcare Management
• Hospital Operations
• Emergency Medicine

Background:

• Hospital capacity constraints and emergency department (ED) crowding are significant healthcare challenges.
• The contribution of short-stay hospitalizations to these capacity issues remains unclear.

Purpose of the Study:

• To quantify the impact of short-stay hospitalizations on overall hospital occupancy hours.
• To determine if short stays contribute to increasing hospital boarding in the ED.

Main Methods:

• Retrospective analysis of hospitalizations across 4 US EDs from January 2018 to June 2024.
• Calculation of total occupancy hours and identification of short stays (≤48 hours).
• Assessment of the proportion of occupancy hours from short stays and trends in ED boarding.

Main Results:

• Short-stay hospitalizations constituted 33.6% of ED-related hospitalizations, contributing 7.6% of total hospital occupancy hours.
• While the proportion of short stays decreased, hospital boarding in the ED increased.
• No statistically significant change was observed in in-hospital occupancy hours from short stays.

Conclusions:

• Short-stay hospitalizations represent a minor component of ED-related hospital occupancy.
• These stays do not explain the rise in ED boarding and have limited potential to alleviate hospital capacity constraints.