Abstract
Pressure is increasing on hospitals to do more with fewer resources. The appropriate management of hospital beds is crucial. The author's practical experience of applying the Harrison and Millard Flow Model (BOMPS) and Sorensen's multi-phased bed model to aspects of the public hospital system in South Australia are detailed. These techniques can provide decision makers with improved bed management information. Modelling enables the effects of decisions to be analyzed before implementation. Further development of these tools, together with other modelling approaches, cannot be ignored as a means of improving the strategic management of hospital beds.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
S.J. Duckett, Hospital payment arrangements to encourage efficiency: the case of Victoria, Australia, Health Policy 34 (1995) 113–134.
S.J. Duckett, Casemix funding for acute hospital inpatient services in Australia, Medical Journal of Australia 169 (1998) 17–21.
S.I. McClean and P.H. Millard, A decision support system for bedoccupancy management and planning hospitals, IMA Journal of Mathematics Applied in Medicine and Biology 12 (1995) 225–234.
D. Clerkin, P.J. Fos and F.E. Petry, A decision support system for hospital bed assignment, Hospital and Health Services Administration 40 (1995) 386–400.
King's Fund, Transforming Health in London (King's Fund Center, London, 1997).
G.W. Harrison and P.H. Millard, Balancing acute and long term care: the mathematics of throughput in departments of geriatric medicine, Methods of Information in Medicine 30 (1991) 221–228.
G.W. Harrison, Compartmental models of hospital patient occupancy patterns, in: Modelling Hospital Resource Use: A Different Approach to the Planning and Control of Health Care Systems, eds. P.H. Millard and S.I. McClean (Royal Society of Medicine, London, 1994).
S.I. McClean and P.H. Millard, Modelling in-patient bed usage behaviour in a department of geriatric medicine, Methods of Information in Medicine 32 (1993) 79–81.
P.H. Millard, The anatomy, physiology and biochemistry of health care for an ageing population, Health and Hygiene 19 (1998) 49–60.
J. Sorensen, Multi-phased bed modelling, Health Services Management Research 9 (1996) 61–67.
M. Mackay and P.H. Millard, Application and comparison of two modelling techniques for hospital bed management, Australian Health Review 22 (1999) 118–143.
J.F. Pendergast and W.B. Vogel, A multistage model of hospital bed requirements, Health Services Research 23 (1988) 381–389.
A. Bagust, M. Place and J.W. Posnett, Dynamics of bed use in accommodating emergency admissions: stochastic simulation model, British Medical Journal 319 (1999) 155–158.
S. Wyatt, The bed occupancy management and planning system (BOMPS), The Lancet 345 (1995) 243–245.
H.J. Motulsky and L.A. Ransnas, Fitting curves to data using nonlinear regression: a practical and mathematical review, FASEB 1 (1987) 365–374.
E. El-Darzi, C. Vasilakis, T. Chaussalet and P.H. Millard, A simulation modelling approach to evaluating length of stay, occupancy, emptiness and bed-blocking in a hospital geriatric department, Health Care Management Science 1 (1998) 143–149.
H. Xiao-Ming, A planning model for the requirement of emergency beds, IMA Journal of Mathematics Applied in Medicine and Biology 12 (1995) 345–353.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Mackay, M. Practical experience with bed occupancy management and planning systems: an Australian view. Health Care Management Science 4, 47–56 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009653716457
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1009653716457