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Salarvand A, Khoshvaghti A, Sharififar S, Jame SZB, Markazi-Moghaddam N, Zareiyan A. Hospital Performance Evaluation Checklist in Context of COVID-19 Pandemic: Design and Validation. Disaster Med Public Health Prep 2023; 17:e570. [PMID: 38057973 DOI: 10.1017/dmp.2023.220] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/08/2023]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE Around the world, pandemics have been considered among the main hazards in the last 2 decades. Hospitals are 1 of the most important organizations responding to pandemics. The aim of this study was to design and develop a valid checklist for evaluating the hospitals' performance in response to COVID-19 pandemic, for the first time. METHODS This study is a mixed method research design that began in February, 2020 and was conducted in 3 phases: Designing a conceptual model, designing a primary checklist structure, and checklist psychometric evaluation. Known-groups method has been used to evaluate construct validity. Two groups of hospitals were compared: group A (COVID-19 Hospitals) and group B (the other hospitals). RESULTS The checklist's main structure was designed with 6 main domains, 23 sub-domains, and 152 items. The content validity ratio and index were 0.94 and 0.79 respectively. Eleven items were added, 106 items were removed, and 40 items were edited. Independent t-test showed a significant difference between the scores of the 2 groups of hospitals (P < 0.0001). Pearson correlation coefficient test also showed a high correlation between our checklist and the other. The internal consistency of the checklist was 0.98 according to Cronbach's alpha test. CONCLUSIONS Evaluating the hospitals' performance and identifying their strengths and weaknesses, can help health system policymakers and hospital managers, and leads to improved performance in response to COVID-19.
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Affiliation(s)
- Abbas Salarvand
- Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Amir Khoshvaghti
- Infectious Diseases Research Center, Aerospace and Subaquatic Medicine Faculty, Aja University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Simintaj Sharififar
- Department of Health in Disasters and Emergencies, Aja University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Sanaz Zargar Balaye Jame
- Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Nader Markazi-Moghaddam
- Department of Health Management and Economics, School of Medicine, AJA University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
| | - Armin Zareiyan
- Department of Public Health, School of Nursing, Aja University of Medical Sciences, Tehran, Iran
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Humphreys P, Spratt B, Tariverdi M, Burdett RL, Cook D, Yarlagadda PKDV, Corry P. An Overview of Hospital Capacity Planning and Optimisation. Healthcare (Basel) 2022; 10:826. [PMID: 35627963 PMCID: PMC9140785 DOI: 10.3390/healthcare10050826] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/24/2022] [Revised: 04/18/2022] [Accepted: 04/27/2022] [Indexed: 02/04/2023] Open
Abstract
Health care is uncertain, dynamic, and fast growing. With digital technologies set to revolutionise the industry, hospital capacity optimisation and planning have never been more relevant. The purposes of this article are threefold. The first is to identify the current state of the art, to summarise/analyse the key achievements, and to identify gaps in the body of research. The second is to synthesise and evaluate that literature to create a holistic framework for understanding hospital capacity planning and optimisation, in terms of physical elements, process, and governance. Third, avenues for future research are sought to inform researchers and practitioners where they should best concentrate their efforts. In conclusion, we find that prior research has typically focussed on individual parts, but the hospital is one body that is made up of many interdependent parts. It is also evident that past attempts considering entire hospitals fail to incorporate all the detail that is necessary to provide solutions that can be implemented in the real world, across strategic, tactical and operational planning horizons. A holistic approach is needed that includes ancillary services, equipment medicines, utilities, instrument trays, supply chain and inventory considerations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Peter Humphreys
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; (B.S.); (R.L.B.); (P.K.D.V.Y.); (P.C.)
| | - Belinda Spratt
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; (B.S.); (R.L.B.); (P.K.D.V.Y.); (P.C.)
| | | | - Robert L. Burdett
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; (B.S.); (R.L.B.); (P.K.D.V.Y.); (P.C.)
| | - David Cook
- Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia;
| | - Prasad K. D. V. Yarlagadda
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; (B.S.); (R.L.B.); (P.K.D.V.Y.); (P.C.)
| | - Paul Corry
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD 4000, Australia; (B.S.); (R.L.B.); (P.K.D.V.Y.); (P.C.)
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Outcomes among children and adults at risk of severe dengue in Sri Lanka: Opportunity for outpatient case management in countries with high disease burden. PLoS Negl Trop Dis 2021; 15:e0010091. [PMID: 34962920 PMCID: PMC8746768 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pntd.0010091] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/13/2021] [Revised: 01/10/2022] [Accepted: 12/14/2021] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Background Healthcare systems in dengue-endemic countries are often overburdened due to the high number of patients hospitalized according to dengue management guidelines. We systematically evaluated clinical outcomes in a large cohort of patients hospitalized with acute dengue to support triaging of patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management in the future. Methods/Principal findings From June 2017- December 2018, we conducted surveillance among children and adults with fever within the prior 7 days who were hospitalized at the largest tertiary-care (1,800 bed) hospital in the Southern Province, Sri Lanka. Patients who developed platelet count ≤100,000/μL (threshold for hospital admission in Sri Lanka) and who met at least two clinical criteria consistent with dengue were eligible for enrollment. We confirmed acute dengue by testing sera collected at enrollment for dengue NS1 antigen or IgM antibodies. We defined primary outcomes as per the 1997 and 2009 World Health Organization (WHO) classification criteria: dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF; WHO 1997), dengue shock syndrome (DSS; WHO 1997), and severe dengue (WHO 2009). Overall, 1064 patients were confirmed as having acute dengue: 318 (17.4%) by NS1 rapid antigen testing and 746 (40.7%) by IgM antibody testing. Of these 1064 patients, 994 (93.4%) were adults ≥18 years and 704 (66.2%) were male. The majority (56, 80%) of children and more than half of adults (544, 54.7%) developed DHF during hospitalization, while 6 (8.6%) children and 22 (2.2%) adults developed DSS. Overall, 10 (14.3%) children and 113 (11.4%) adults developed severe dengue. A total of 2 (0.2%) patients died during hospitalization. Conclusions One-half of patients hospitalized with acute dengue progressed to develop DHF and a very small number developed DSS or severe dengue. Developing an algorithm for triaging patients to ambulatory versus inpatient management should be the future goal to optimize utilization of healthcare resources in dengue-endemic countries. In countries where dengue is prevalent, hospitals are often overwhelmed due to the high numbers of patient admissions during dengue epidemics. We studied 1064 children and adults hospitalized with acute dengue in Sri Lanka to determine the prevalence of severe disease outcomes to support the development of a system which can limit hospitalizations in the future. We found that only half of patients developed severe disease outcomes during hospitalization and only a small minority of patients developed life-threatening disease. For dengue-prevalent countries, developing systems to identify patients with acute dengue who can be managed without hospital admission should be a priority.
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Bauer J, Brüggmann D, Klingelhöfer D, Maier W, Schwettmann L, Weiss DJ, Groneberg DA. Access to intensive care in 14 European countries: a spatial analysis of intensive care need and capacity in the light of COVID-19. Intensive Care Med 2020; 46:2026-2034. [PMID: 32886208 PMCID: PMC7472675 DOI: 10.1007/s00134-020-06229-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 93] [Impact Index Per Article: 23.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/03/2020] [Accepted: 08/21/2020] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
Purpose The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) poses major challenges to health-care systems worldwide. This pandemic demonstrates the importance of timely access to intensive care and, therefore, this study aims to explore the accessibility of intensive care beds in 14 European countries and its impact on the COVID-19 case fatality ratio (CFR). Methods We examined access to intensive care beds by deriving (1) a regional ratio of intensive care beds to 100,000 population capita (accessibility index, AI) and (2) the distance to the closest intensive care unit. The cross-sectional analysis was performed at a 5-by-5 km spatial resolution and results were summarized nationally for 14 European countries. The relationship between AI and CFR was analyzed at the regional level. Results We found national-level differences in the levels of access to intensive care beds. The AI was highest in Germany (AI = 35.3), followed by Estonia (AI = 33.5) and Austria (AI = 26.4), and lowest in Sweden (AI = 5) and Denmark (AI = 6.4). The average travel distance to the closest hospital was highest in Croatia (25.3 min by car) and lowest in Luxembourg (9.1 min). Subnational results illustrate that capacity was associated with population density and national-level inventories. The correlation analysis revealed a negative correlation of ICU accessibility and COVID-19 CFR (r = − 0.57; p < 0.001). Conclusion Geographical access to intensive care beds varies significantly across European countries and low ICU accessibility was associated with a higher proportion of COVID-19 deaths to cases (CFR). Important differences in access are due to the sizes of national resource inventories and the distribution of health-care facilities relative to the human population. Our findings provide a resource for officials planning public health responses beyond the current COVID-19 pandemic, such as identifying potential locations suitable for temporary facilities or establishing logistical plans for moving severely ill patients to facilities with available beds. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1007/s00134-020-06229-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jan Bauer
- Division of Health Services Research, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany.
| | - Dörthe Brüggmann
- Division of Health Services Research, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Doris Klingelhöfer
- Division of Health Services Research, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
| | - Werner Maier
- Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Management, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Lars Schwettmann
- Institute of Health Economics and Health Care Management, Helmholtz Zentrum München, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Ingolstädter Landstr. 1, 85764, Neuherberg, Germany
- Department of Economics, Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, 06099, Halle an der Saale, Germany
| | - Daniel J Weiss
- Nuffield Department of Medicine, Malaria Atlas Project, Big Data Institute, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, OX3 7FY, UK
| | - David A Groneberg
- Division of Health Services Research, Institute of Occupational Medicine, Social Medicine and Environmental Medicine, Goethe University Frankfurt, Theodor Stern Kai 7, 60590, Frankfurt, Germany
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Barasa EW, Ouma PO, Okiro EA. Assessing the hospital surge capacity of the Kenyan health system in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. PLoS One 2020; 15:e0236308. [PMID: 32687538 PMCID: PMC7371160 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0236308] [Citation(s) in RCA: 69] [Impact Index Per Article: 17.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2020] [Accepted: 07/03/2020] [Indexed: 12/17/2022] Open
Abstract
INTRODUCTION The COVID-19 pandemic will test the capacity of health systems worldwide and especially so in low- and middle-income countries. The objective of this study was to assess the surge capacity of the Kenyan of the Kenyan health system in terms of general hospital and ICU beds in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. METHODS We assumed that 2% of the Kenyan population get symptomatic infection by SARS-Cov-2 based on modelled estimates for Kenya and determined the health system surge capacity for COVID-19 under three transmission curve scenarios, 6, 12, and 18 months. We estimated four measures of hospital surge capacity namely: 1) hospital bed surge capacity 2) ICU bed surge capacity 3) Hospital bed tipping point, and 5) ICU bed tipping point. We computed this nationally and for all the 47 county governments. RESULTS The capacity of Kenyan hospitals to absorb increases in caseload due to COVID-19 is constrained by the availability of oxygen, with only 58% of hospital beds in hospitals with oxygen supply. There is substantial variation in hospital bed surge capacity across counties. For example, under the 6 months transmission scenario, the percentage of available general hospital beds that would be taken up by COVID-19 cases varied from 12% Tharaka Nithi county, to 145% in Trans Nzoia county. Kenya faces substantial gaps in ICU beds and ventilator capacity. Only 22 out of the 47 counties have at least 1 ICU unit. Kenya will need an additional 1,511 ICU beds and 1,609 ventilators (6 months transmission curve) to 374 ICU beds and 472 ventilators (18 months transmission curve) to absorb caseloads due to COVID-19. CONCLUSION Significant gaps exist in Kenya's capacity for hospitals to accommodate a potential surge in caseload due to COVID-19. Alongside efforts to slow and supress the transmission of the infection, the Kenyan government will need to implement adaptive measures and additional investments to expand the hospital surge capacity for COVID-19. Additional investments will however need to be strategically prioritized to focus on strengthening essential services first, such as oxygen availability before higher cost investments such as ICU beds and ventilators.
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Affiliation(s)
- Edwine W. Barasa
- Health Economics Research Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Paul O. Ouma
- Population Health Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
| | - Emelda A. Okiro
- Centre for Tropical Medicine and Global Health, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
- Population Health Unit, KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme, Nairobi, Kenya
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