Trends in Patient Transfers From Overall and Caseload-Strained US Hospitals During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

ABSTRACT:

Importance

Transferring patients to other hospitals because of inpatient saturation or need for higher levels of care was often challenging during the early waves of the COVID-19 pandemic. Understanding how transfer patterns evolved over time and amid hospital overcrowding could inform future care delivery and load balancing efforts.

Objective

To evaluate trends in outgoing transfers at overall and caseload-strained hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic vs prepandemic times.

Design, setting, and participants

This retrospective cohort study used data for adult patients at continuously reporting US hospitals in the PINC-AI Healthcare Database. Data analysis was performed from February to July 2023.

Exposures

Pandemic wave, defined as wave 1 (March 1, 2020, to Ma

SUBMITTER: Sarzynski SH 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10870187 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature