Hospital Length of Stay

Term Paper # 103977

Business > Industries
Business > Management
Economics > Econometrics

An analysis of hospital operations relative to length of stay metrics.

945 words () | 3 sources | APA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper uses various economic tools to discuss hospital operations relative to length of stay metrics. The paper concludes that hospitals can increase operating profits and margins by reducing length of stay strategically as a method to funnel patients to higher margin outpatient and diagnostic services.

Table of Contents:
Abstract
Overview
Analysis
Outcome

From the Paper:

"Another economic model that can be applied to community hospital operations is a demand curve which reveals at what point LOS decrease is most effective relative of hospital services usage rates overall. This is an important metric in hospital operations because in order to achieve and sustain profitability a hospital must elevate its use of services across the board including outpatient care and general medical visitations as opposed to relying fully on occupied hospital beds. This graph indicates at which occupancy rates LOS can be maximized squared by the number of overall patient admittances over a 6 month period."

Sample of Sources Used:

Cleaver, T. (2004). Economics: The Basics. New York: Routledge.
Geisler, E., Krabbendam, K., & Schuring, R. (Eds.). (2003). Technology, Health Care, and Management in the Hospital of the Future. Westport, CT: Praeger.
Kronenfeld, J. J. (2002). Health Care Policy: Issues and Trends. Westport, CT: Praeger.