A new admissions policy has driven hospital inpatient stays to record low levels, according to Citigroup analysts.
Hospital inpatient admissions declined 4.5% in November from levels a year earlier, the analysts reported, basing their conclusions on responses from 98 hospitals. Only 5% of respondents reported year-over-year growth in overall admissions, which was the weakest result in 11 years of the Citi Research survey. That figure was down from 22% in October.
Most hospital stays shorter than two midnights are to be considered outpatient stays under a newly implemented regulation, which the analysts said was the main reason for the drop.
Some hoped the “two-midnight rule” would decrease the number of people kept for days in outpatient “observation” status, thereby allowing more to be eligible for skilled nursing coverage.
From the February 01, 2014 Issue of McKnight's Long-Term Care News