Intervenções combinadas para redução do tempo de internação de pacientes clínicos de um hospital universitário

Abstract

Background: In 2018, the National Health System (NHS) released the “Guide to reducing long hospital stays” to stimulate improvement and decrease length of stay (LOS) in England hospitals. The SAFER patient flow bundle and Red2Green tool were described as strategies to be implemented in inpatient wards to reduce discharge delays. Objective: To verify if implementing the SAFER patient flow bundle and Red2Green days tool is associated with LOS reduction in the internal medicine unit (IMU) wards of a university hospital in Brazil. Methods: In this longitudinal interventional trial, we compared the LOS of patients discharged from the IMU wards in 2019, during the implementation of the SAFER bundle and Red2Green tool, to the LOS of patients discharged in the same period in 2018. The Diagnosis Related Groups (DRG) Brasil algorithm compared groups according to complexity and resource requirements. In-hospital mortality, readmission rates, the number of adverse events, and the number and causes of inappropriate hospital days were also evaluated. Results: 208 internal medicine patients were discharged in 2018, and 252 were discharged in 2019. The median hospital LOS was significantly lower during the intervention period [14.2 days (IQR, 8-23) vs. 19 days (IQR, 12-32); p <0.001]. In-hospital mortality, readmission in 30 days, and the number of adverse events were the same between groups. Of the 3350 patient days analyzed, 1482 (44.2%) were classified as green and 1868 (55.8%) as red. The lack of senior review was the most frequent cause of a red day (42.4%). Conclusion: SAFER patient flow bundle and Red2Green days tool implementation were associated with a significant decrease in hospital LOS in a university hospital IMU ward. There is a considerable improvement opportunity for hospital LOS reduction by changing the multidisciplinary team`s attitude during patient hospitalization using these strategies.