Decreasing Avoidable Hospital Discharge Delays – IHS

Decreasing Avoidable Hospital Delays

Decreasing avoidable hospital delays is more critical than ever.  According to the American Hospital Association (AHA), patients who experience avoidable delays in their hospital discharge more likely to experience delays in their recovery.  This is especially true for those patients discharging to a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF).  Avoidable hospital delays are frequently attributed to delays in a patient’s discharge.  These patients no longer meet medical necessity for the acute care setting, yet these avoidable delays lead to an increase in hospital resource consumption.  https://www.aha.org/issue-brief/2022-12-05-patients-and-providers-faced-increasing-delays-timely-discharges

Tracking Avoidable Hospital Avoidable Delays

Care management teams frequently track avoidable hospital delays.  These avoidable delays are categorized. Collecting the reason and the attribution for the delay is also important. Many hospitals cited waiting on Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) as their number one avoidable hospital delays. Sharing this data with hospital leaders is imperative so that opportunities for improvement are identified and prioritized.

Impact of Avoidable Delays to Patients

Many hospitals report waiting for Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) authorizations is one of their number avoidable delays.  Patients waiting for necessary rehabilitation services occupy a hospital bed longer.  Prolonged length of stay has been associated with the risk of hospital-acquired conditions, such as infections, injuries, and delirium.

These avoidable delays also impact overall quality of life.  Delays in getting home from the SNF, prolonged pain, stress, and anxiety, worries over healthcare costs are just a few of the attributes.  Avoidable delays also erode at patients’ confidence in the healthcare system. Decreasing hospital avoidable delays can improve patient’s overall quality of health

Impact of Avoidable Delays to Hospitals

Another identified issue is that hospitals are frequently not staffed or equipped for ongoing therapy services.  Sixty-seven percent of Hospital CEOs expressed having staffing concerns within their rehabilitation services teams.

In addition to staffing challenges, hospitals are often responsible for the cost for these excess days without additional reimbursement.  Reducing post-acute processing delays for Rehabilitation Services can lead to a significant reduction in post-acute admission avoidable delays and costs, (Görgülü et al., 2023).

Decreasing avoidable hospital delays waiting on SNF authorization will enhance the patient experience by decreasing the risk of harm and creating a smoother transition to the next level of care.  Significant cost savings can also be achieved attained by hospitals and hospital systems.