1. Weekend Discharges and Length of Stay Among Veterans Admitted for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease
- Author
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David H. Au, Edwin S. Wong, Emily L. Neely, Paul L. Hebert, Chuan Fen Liu, Peter K. Lindenauer, Christine A. Sulc, and Seppo T. Rinne
- Subjects
Male ,medicine.medical_specialty ,Time Factors ,Hospitals, Veterans ,education ,Pulmonary disease ,Patient Readmission ,Odds ,Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive ,Risk Factors ,Humans ,Medicine ,Veterans Affairs ,Aged ,Veterans ,Hospital readmission ,COPD ,business.industry ,Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health ,Odds ratio ,Length of Stay ,medicine.disease ,Patient Discharge ,United States ,Confidence interval ,Emergency medicine ,Female ,business ,human activities ,Cohort study - Abstract
BACKGROUND Discharge rates are substantially lower on weekends, though the impact on hospital length of stay (LOS) is not fully understood. OBJECTIVES The primary objective was to examine the association of weekend discharges with hospital LOS. We also examined the association of weekend discharges with readmission, mortality, and postdischarge follow-up. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A cohort study of 25,301 patients who were admitted to Veterans Affairs hospitals for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease during October 01, 2008-September 30, 2010, including 3845 patients discharged on the weekend (Saturday or Sunday) and 21,456 discharged on weekdays (Monday through Friday). RESULTS There were significantly fewer discharges on the weekend (1922 per weekend day vs. 4279 per weekday, P
- Published
- 2015
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