Linked Life Data

1824457

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/1824457

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
4
pubmed:dateCreated
1992-10-22
pubmed:abstractText
A tertiary care hospital established a transfer center to manage the large number of transfer requests from other hospitals in its catchment region. Motivating factors included occurrence of economic transfers, medically inappropriate transfers, poor interfacility communication, and a bed shortage. An interdisciplinary task force was convened to design and implement the transfer center, requiring two months from conception to implementation. Non-recurring direct costs were $3000. At the time of implementation, written transfer agreements were promoted and signed with many transferring hospitals. A retrospective audit covering 28 weeks of operation indicates that 1141 inpatient days were avoided for an average of 21.5 days per back-transferred patient. (Back-transfer refers to the return of a patient to the original hospital.) An additional 140 admissions were possible as a result of these avoided days. Approximately $550,000 in variable costs were saved on an annualized basis. Moreover, substantial improvements in communications and interfacility cooperation were realized. No cases of inappropriate denials or delays in transfer were identified. We conclude that a transfer center can be a highly cost-effective mechanism to manage the large number of patients transferred to a tertiary care center.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:issn
0885-713X
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
6
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
127-31
pubmed:dateRevised
2000-12-18
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
1991
pubmed:articleTitle
Financial and operational impact of a transfer center.
pubmed:affiliation
Albany Medical Center, NY 12208.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article