Managing Acute Patient Flows

Victoria’s public hospitals are major providers of acute and sub-acute health care. Acute care involves diagnosis and intensive treatment over a short timeframe to reduce the symptoms or severity of illness or to provide a cure. Demand for acute care has increased steadily over the past decade and Victoria has the second highest public hospital admission rate in Australia.

This report examined how well five hospitals managed the flow of patients through the hospital system, including patient admission, the patient stay and patient discharge. It also examined whether the Department of Human Services and hospitals planned for acute inpatients.

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