Admissions and bed occupancy at the hospital before and after the beginning of budgeting; a dance of billions
Hoogendoorn, D.
Nederlands Tijdschrift Voor Geneeskunde 133(4): 156-161
1989
ISSN/ISBN: 0028-2162 PMID: 2922077 Document Number: 331984
Hospital budgeting was enacted in 1983 and led to a spectacular decrease of hospital admissions. Admissions of elderly patients were an exception, however; progress in medicine results in ever-increasing possibilities of adequate treatment for this group. The shortening of the average hospital stay, evident since a number of years, continued unchanged after 1982. Taking into account the greying of the patients, the number of hospital days per 100 of the population has decreased by 20% between 1982 and 1987. This descending curve grows increasingly steep. The evolution outlined has probably resulted in a 10-figure reduction.