Using a Markov Chain Model to Analyze the Relationship Between Avoidable Days and Critical Care Capacity.

Using a Markov Chain Model to Analyze the Relationship Between Avoidable Days and Critical Care Capacity. Stud Health Technol Inform. 2019;257:170-175 Authors: Hudson D, Singh G Abstract Hospital capacity strain is ubiquitous, and a significant stressor in critical care. Avoidable days (AD) are frequently used as a metric of capacity. Using a Markov chain model, we studied the relationship between AD and surgical cancellations in a cardiovascular ICU. The model varied the probability of discharging a patient to study this effect over a pool of 108 simulated patients with length of stay data reflecting the actual population. The model behaved as expected with decreasing AD with increasing probability of patient discharge. However, there was no effect on the surgical cancellation rate. We conclude that there is no relationship between AD and critical care capacity as measured by surgical cancellation rate. PMID: 30741191 [PubMed - in process]
Source: Studies in Health Technology and Informatics - Category: Information Technology Tags: Stud Health Technol Inform Source Type: research