Publication of utilisation data. Its effect on clinical decisions

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Hospital Administration
• Clinical Pharmacy

Background:

• Effective hospital management requires monitoring patient length of stay and prescribing practices.
• Information dissemination to healthcare professionals can influence clinical behavior and resource utilization.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the impact of a weekly information bulletin on hospital discharge and prescribing patterns.
• To assess whether increased awareness of unit performance affects patient length of stay and polypharmacy.

Main Methods:

• A prospective study over 18 weeks in general medical and surgical units at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
• Distribution of weekly bulletins detailing patient stay and prescribing data, with a crossover design between units.
• Statistical analysis to compare outcomes between the initial and second nine-week periods.

Main Results:

• Mean patient length of stay decreased from 9.5 to 8.7 days, saving over 2000 bed-days (P < 0.002).
• The percentage of patients receiving more than two prescriptions fell from 15.3% to 13% (P < 0.001).

Conclusions:

• Regularly published performance data can significantly improve hospital efficiency and reduce polypharmacy.
• Increased awareness of unit-level data likely influenced clinical decisions regarding discharge and prescribing.
• This intervention demonstrates a low-cost method for enhancing healthcare quality and resource management.