Importance of patient bed pathways and length of stay differences in predicting COVID-19 hospital bed occupancy in England.

BMC health services research Jun 2021

Predicting bed occupancy for hospitalised patients with COVID-19 requires understanding of length of stay (LoS) in particular bed types. LoS can vary depending on the patient’s “bed pathway” - the sequence of transfers of individual patients between bed types during a hospital stay. In this study, we characterise these pathways, and their impact on predicted hospital bed occupancy.