Economic impact of an emergency department short-stay unit

Objective: To determine the economic impact of an emergency department short-stay unit in comparison with conventional hospitalization, and to analyze length of stay in the unit and effectiveness of care. Methods: Retrospective, descriptive study comparing management and case characteristics of admissions to the short-stay unit with admissions to a conventional ward of a level 1 hospital serving a population of 80 000 in January 2006 to September 2007. Quantitative variables were reported as medians and qualitative variables as absolute frequencies. Data environment analysis was used for the analysis of costs. Results: The median hospital stay was significantly shorter for patients in the emergency department short-stay unit (1.3 days) than for those admitted to the conventional ward (4.1 days) (P<.001), even after case-mix adjustment (1.31 days). The economic savings from short-stay unit admission was (sic)736.39/patient admitted, giving overall savings of 1062 bed-days and (sic)270 744. Conclusions: The introduction of the emergency short-stay unit accelerated access to hospital admission. Savings resulted from the efficient use of resources, particularly the use of hospital beds. [Emergencias 2010;22:254-258]