A description of inappropriate hospital stays in selected in-patient services: a study of cases receiving social work services.
The number of discharges (63,303) from a university-affiliated medical center in Israel were reviewed. Eight percent of cases in three departments rcceivcd social work services. Patients experiencing inappropriate hospital stay (discharge delay) and who received social work services were characterized and compared with social work clients not experiencing delay. Discharge delay patients differed from other social work clients on key sociodemographic variables. Patients admitted because of "injury" were significantly more likely to experience delay than patients admitted because of "illness." "Waiting for community/institutional resources" was the most common reason for delay and discharge to an institutional setting increased the likelihood of delayed discharge. High risk factors were department-specific and should be studied in context. Results suggested the limited but positive impact of hospital-community collaborative strategies in reducing the incidence of delay over time.
Epstein
J
J
Department of Social Work, Sheba Medical Center, Tel Hashomer, Israel.
Kaplan
G
G
Lavi
B
B
Noy
S
S
Ben Shahar
I
I
Shahaf
P
P
Stanger
V
V
Rotstein
Z
Z
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D005260:Female; D006300:Health Services Misuse / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006746:Hospital Bed Capacity, 500 and over; D006748:Hospital Departments / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006785:Hospitals, University / Q000458:organization & administration / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D007388:Internal Medicine / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D007557:Israel; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009493:Neurosurgery / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D009985:Orthopedics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012948:Social Work Department, Hospital / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014600:Utilization Review