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BMC Health Services Research
Published in: BMC Health Services Research 1/2012

Open Access 01-12-2012 | Research article

Reduction in inappropriate hospital use based on analysis of the causes

Authors: Víctor Soria-Aledo, Andrés Carrillo-Alcaraz, Benito Flores-Pastor, Alfredo Moreno-Egea, Milagros Carrasco-Prats, José Luis Aguayo-Albasini

Published in: BMC Health Services Research | Issue 1/2012

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Abstract

Background

To reduce inappropriate admissions and stays with the application of an improvement cycle in patients admitted to a University Hospital. The secondary objective is to analyze the hospital cost saved by reducing inadequacy after the implementation of measures proposed by the group for improvement.

Methods

Pre- and post-analysis of a sample of clinical histories studied retrospectively, in which the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) was applied to a representative hospital sample of 1350 clinical histories in two phases. In the first phase the AEP was applied retrospectively to 725 admissions and 1350 stays. The factors associated with inappropriateness were analysed together with the causes, and specific measures were implemented in a bid to reduce inappropriateness. In the second phase the AEP was reapplied to a similar group of clinical histories and the results of the two groups were compared. The cost of inappropriate stays was calculated by cost accounting. Setting: General University Hospital with 426 beds serving a population of 320,000 inhabitants in the centre of Murcia, a city in south-eastern Spain.

Results

Inappropriate admissions were reduced significantly: 7.4% in the control group and 3.2% in the intervention group. Likewise, inappropriate stays decreased significantly from 24.6% to 10.4%. The cost of inappropriateness in the study sample fell from 147,044 euros to 66,642 euros. The causes of inappropriateness for which corrective measures were adopted were those that showed the most significant decrease.

Conclusions

It is possible to reduce inadequacy by applying measures based on prior analysis of the situation in each hospital.
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Metadata
Title
Reduction in inappropriate hospital use based on analysis of the causes
Authors
Víctor Soria-Aledo
Andrés Carrillo-Alcaraz
Benito Flores-Pastor
Alfredo Moreno-Egea
Milagros Carrasco-Prats
José Luis Aguayo-Albasini
Publication date
01-12-2012
Publisher
BioMed Central
Published in
BMC Health Services Research / Issue 1/2012
Electronic ISSN: 1472-6963
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1186/1472-6963-12-361

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