Publication:

Hospital utilization pattern at a tertiary care hospital in tribal area of Central India

Background A hospital bed is both a scarce and expensive commodity in healthcare. The efficient bed management is most important for better utilization of hospitals. Hospital utilization indices are sensitive indicators to find pressure areas and thus help in proper allocation of hospital resources and forming better healthcare policies for hospitals. The objective of the study was to study the pattern of hospital bed utilization in last five years; seasonal and department-wise variation in hospital utilization indices.

Methods It is a record based observational cross-sectional study conducted at a tertiary care hospital. Concerned data was collected from the medical record section and entered in a pre-designed proforma. Trends of various hospital indices were analysed.

Results There were no much fluctuations in bed occupancy rate (BOR), Average length of stay (ALOS), bed turnover rate (BTOR) and turn over interval (TOI) from 2009 to 2013. For the year 2013, overall BOR of hospital is 75.71%, highest in the rainy season. The ALOS in hospital is 5.39 days and is around 5 days in all the months. BOR is highest in Surgery, obstetric-gynecology and ophthalmology department and lowest in skin department while ALOS is more in surgery and orthopedics followed by skin and obstetric-gynecology departments. ALOS is lowest in the department of Ophthalmology.

Conclusions By studying the different indices, it was found that hospital utilization is optimum for this institution. The study findings will help in formulation of new health care policies for hospital.