Hi, please respond to these peers: ( please citations and reference should be APA compliance and 100 words minimum for each peer) Thanks.

Peer #1

The ALOS (Average Length of Stay) is used amongst many hospital facilities to determine their healthcare performance. It will also help them decide if any changes need to be made to their hospital systems. The ALOS is based on several criteria. There are many factors that can affect the average length of stay in a hospital system. If I were comparing someone else’s ALOS to our system, I would ask several questions such as, what type of demographics are being considered. Do they consider if the patients have had any previous admissions? Do the patients have existing diseases or conditions? What type of admission is it or what type of treatment is being performed? What method of payment is the patient using? Several factors determine the length of stay at a hospital. What exact time of admission and discharge is their ALOS determined from? So, there are these several questions that I would ask to compare ALOS.

Resource:

Khosravizadeh, O., Vatankhah, S., Bastani, P., Kalhor, R., Alirezaei, S., & Doosty, F. (2016, October 25). Factors affecting length of stay in teaching hospitals of a middle-income country. Retrieved August 26, 2021, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC51330…

Peer # 2:

Length of Stay is considered is considered for effective hospital resource management and planning and to determine the costs of hospitalization and the use of services.

There are many factors that should be considered when using Average Length of Stay (ALOS) to measure healthcare efficiency.

There should be a consideration of factors that my affect a longer length of stay or a shorter length of stay. Factors involving a larger length of stay are the elderly, illiteracy, insured patients, delays during the stay such as to perform lab tests and radiology tests or to wait on results before further treatments are implemented, or if patients had chronic health conditions before being admitted into the facility.

1. The Elderly:

• They are more prone to develop complications and illness due to having a more suppressed immune system that can fight off infection and illness which leads to longer stays in a facility.

1. Illiteracy:

• Lack of insight or awareness into the seriousness of their illness and the likelihood of failing to adhere to dosage instructions and schedules can contribute to longer stays.

1. Delays for tests:

• Delays in completing lab tests and/or radiology tests and waiting for those results can contribute to longer stays.

1. Chronic Conditions Before Admissions:

• The patient’s medical condition before being admitted can prolong stays. For instance, if the patient had a cancer malignancy, heart disease, or uncontrolled diabetes before being admitted, more time may be spent treating them. More time may be spent waiting for a surgical date to operate on the patient.

Factors that my affect a shorter stay may be if the patient is uninsured and paying out of pocket, the patient does not have many comorbidities and can continue care in an outpatient setting, or if a patient has an insurance policy that puts limits on the number of covered days a patient can have staying in the hospital.

1. Uninsured Patient:

• The patient may not be able to afford a prolonged stay in the hospital. Hospital services can be very costly each day a patient remains admitted.

1. No comorbidities:

• The patient does not have any chronic conditions that may delay being discharged and may be healthy enough to be released to continue seeing their doctor on an outpatient basis for treatment.

1. Insurance Limitations:

• The patient may have an insurance policy that only may cover no more than 1 day of admission for services. If the patient remains past a day, then it would be the patient’s responsibility to pay out of pocket.

When comparing one ALOS program with another ALOS program, factors to consider would be ensuring that both ALOS program are the same type of hospitals. For instance, it wouldn’t be a useful comparison comparing a children’s hospital with a psychiatric hospital or a cancer specialty center with a kidney dialysis center. Another thing to consider is hospital size and geographical location. An ALOS program in a large, urban, university teaching hospital is different than a rural community hospital. One may have more beds and staff which would allow to keep patients admitted longer and the other one may have less beds and less funding to sustain patients having prolonged treatments onsite.

References

Jackson, T. (n.d.). Healthcare benchmarking; Who should you compare against your organization? Retrieved from ClearPoint Strategy: https://www.clearpointstrategy.com/healthcare-benc…

Kargari, M., & Aghajani, S. (2016, May). Determining factors influencing length of stay and predicting length of stay using data mining in the general surgery department. Hospital Practices and Research, 53-58. doi:10.20286/hpr-010251

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