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Nearly one out of every seven medical-surgical beds in Massachusetts hospitals is occupied by patients who are awaiting discharge and no longer need acute care, according to a report released on Monday, June 12 by the Massachusetts Health & Hospital Association.
That means 15% of acute care hospital beds are unnecessarily occupied, due to an array of reasons that include barriers related to primary health insurance, staffing shortages, and lack of guardianship/conservatorship/healthcare proxies.
These statistics mean that patients in need of hospital-level care are stuck waiting in emergency departments until a bed opens up.
It also means that patients who no longer need acute care are stuck waiting for the specialized treatment they need.
The report's findings highlight a healthcare system in distress, despite hospital case managers spending hours trying to move patients to the next level of care, according to a press release issued in conjunction with the report.
"We want to share a glimpse into this crisis and the solutions that have been identified from those of us on the front lines of patient care," said Amanda Ford, MSN, MBA, RN, director, Continuity of Care at Lowell General Hospital.
These possible solutions include:
- Improving access to long-term care beds, dementia beds, and geriatric-psychiatric beds
- Expanding the Hospital to Home Partnership Program, which works to help hospitals discharge patients to their homes instead of an institutional setting
- Improving court processes related to guardianship, conservatorship, and healthcare proxy cases
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