Overcrowded Hospitals To Surgical Patients: Get Lost

If you’re waiting for service in a busy restaurant and the waiters are stressed out trying to serve all the diners, you might expect the chefs and servers to become harried and botch some orders. That can make for an unsatisfactory dinner and send you home unsatisfied.

Unfortunately, the same dynamics are often at work in a hospital. But it isn’t your appetite that’s at risk; it’s your health.

Studies at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business show that when hospitals are overflowing, surgery patients are sent home before they’re healthy enough. A shockingly high number of them consequently have to be readmitted to the hospital within three days.

“Discharge decisions are made with bed-capacity constraints in mind,” says researcher Bruce Golden.

“Patient traffic jams present hospitals and medical teams with major, practical concerns, but they can find better answers than sending the patient home at the earliest possible moment,” Golden adds. “Too often, the biggest problem is that hospitals just don’t plan ahead, and this is what gets them in trouble. There are logistical alternatives to sending a patient home too soon.”