Interventions To Decrease Hospital Length of Stay

Interventions To Decrease Hospital Length of Stay, a new report from AHRQ's Effective Health Care Program, found use of "clinical pathways"—evidence-based, structured care plans tailored to individual healthcare providers—and case management were effective in reducing hospital length of stay for people with heart failure.

In the report, researchers classified what is known about strategies to reduce hospital length of stay. Of the eight strategies they found, researchers discovered evidence that for people with heart failure, clinical pathways reduced length of stay, readmission and mortality; meanwhile, case management decreased length of stay and readmissions. Evidence for effectiveness of other interventions was generally not robust and often inconsistent, researchers said.

Select to access the report.