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A methodology is proposed and tested for the staging of patients thorugh a hospital stay. Measurements in a university-affiliated hospital and a community hospital in the Boston area showed similar staging patterns with about half of the sample having abnormal signs and symptoms while under treatment. The second-largest sample group in both hospitals, consisting of 11% of the sample, occupied beds although ready for discharge. The methodology indicated those patient-time units in the hospital which might be amenable to further reduction and gave upper bounds on that compression. Contrary to prior expectations, 90% of the patients sampled followed a well-defined sequence from admission to discharge with only 10% having complications of the admitting diagnosis, new diagnosis or iatrogenic illness.
Sherman et al. (Tue,) studied this question.