Inpatient Unit Consolidation Saves Hospitals Money

Health systems traditionally manage financial challenges through volume and cost control. When that isn't enough, executives may want to consider consolidation of inpatient units, according to the Berkeley Research Group.

The group's healthcare consultants work with hospitals and health systems to look at how many inpatient units are being run, the number of empty beds and data they've gathered on each facility to advise when to open or close these units.

Oncology and orthopedics are two units which often see variable inpatient numbers.  

The consultants aggregate the data around patient movement and patient types, according to Managing Consultant Lauren Phillips. It's about tracking the trends and understanding the seasonality of some units. Hospitals should be asking, are the inpatient numbers lower because of something new and novel? Has there been a gradual decrease because of more patient care going to outpatient? Or are there other factors?