Regulatory technology arrangements for hospital bed access during the COVID-19 pandemic: scope review

The COVID-19 pandemic posed numerous challenges to health care systems, including hospital bed access. Analyzing the response provided and identifying regulatory technology arrangements that contributed to provide improved health care access can support the preparation of systems for future emergencies and also provide alternatives to current difficulties. The aim of this study is to mapping, summarize and categorize the regulatory technology arrangements used in hospital bed access during the COVID-19 pandemic using the scoping review method. The review used the recommendations of the Joanna Briggs Institute and the PRISMA-ScR report, and the PCC acronym (population [P]: of COVID-19 or non-COVID-19 patients; the concept [C]: of bed access regulation; and the context [C]: of the COVID-19 pandemic). The search was carried out in the PubMed, Scopus, Embase, Web of Science and LILACS databases between July and September 2022 and 45 articles were selected for review. We established three categories of analysis: Reorganization of services; Use of virtual tools and artificial intelligence; and Creation of alternative spaces, that assisted in the identification and analysis of the regulatory technology arrangements used. We note arrangements such as telehealth and telemedicine, the reconfiguration of existing spaces for expansion of health care capacity and modifications in the work process, including the adoption of specific protocols and the establishment of differentiated flows. The review showed the importance of regulatory technology arrangements in bed access and challenges such as regulation and financing, factors that may be essential for the use of regulatory technology arrangements.