Background: The Institute for Healthcare Improvement tells us that successful discharge planning starts at admission; however, when that admission occurs to a closed Intensive Care Unit (ICU), traditional discharge planning can be delayed until the patient transfers to a general floor. This delay can be exacerbated as a hospital’s adult medical-surgical bed occupancy rises, increasing [...]

Background: Many end stage renal disease (ESRD) patients present with complaints related to missed or incomplete hemodialysis (HD). Inpatient HD units often are not credentialed for outpatient use which results in extra cost and consumes additional resources for a standard outpatient procedure. Delays in patient throughput in emergency departments (ED) can cause boarding in the [...]

Background: Many hospitals set targets for discharging patients before noon in efforts to optimize patient throughput. However, discharge before noon (DCBN) has been associated with increased length of stay (LOS) in an adult population. The relationship between discharge time of day and LOS in pediatric patients is uncertain. This study aims to evaluate the relationship [...]