Bed Management System Can Increase Hospital Revenues: Experiences of a Referral Cardiovascular Center

Cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death worldwide; therefore, the importance of cardiac care hospitals is on the rise day by day. The efficient use, optimalallocation, and maximum utilization of resources are the inseparable components ofmodern management. Given the scarcity of resources, especially beds, and the complexityof the existing processes in the hospital revenue system, the establishment of systematicbed management is the right solution to this problem. The present study aimed todetermine the relationship between increased revenues and bed management. This cross-sectional study was conducted in Rajaie Cardiovascular Medical and Research Center, Tehran, Iran. Data of 613 adult patients that had undergone coronary bypass grafting and heart valve surgery were collected from the hospital medical records. Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG)-2015 was used for the standard hospital length of stay (LOS), and hospital indices were recalculated and compared with their observed values. Data were analyzed using the Spearman correlation coefficient, the Mann–Whitney test, the Wilcoxon test, and the Kruskal–Wallis test. A P value of less than 0.05 was considered significant. Significant differences existed between the mean LOS and its standard values. The results showed that by the implementation of bed-management, the current LOS was halved, the bed turnover increased from 10.57 to 21.14 times, and the revenue increased by 33%. A potential increase in revenues was observed after considering the standards of the bed management system in our hospital. According to the results obtained, revenues can be increased with higher patient admission and shortening patient queues byestablishing systems that define a standard to control LOS, without increasing the numberof beds. (Iranian Heart Journal 2021; 22(2): 6-16)