{"id":1533,"date":"2025-10-28T17:22:02","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:52:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/?p=1533"},"modified":"2025-10-28T17:22:02","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T11:52:02","slug":"how-can-a-hospital-reduce-pain-and-delay-in-patient-discharge","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/?p=1533","title":{"rendered":"How can a hospital reduce pain and delay in patient Discharge?"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"pl-1533\"  class=\"panel-layout\" ><div id=\"pg-1533-0\"  class=\"panel-grid panel-no-style\" ><div id=\"pgc-1533-0-0\"  class=\"panel-grid-cell\" ><div id=\"panel-1533-0-0-0\" class=\"so-panel widget widget_sow-editor panel-first-child panel-last-child\" data-index=\"0\" ><div\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\tclass=\"so-widget-sow-editor so-widget-sow-editor-base\"\n\t\t\t\n\t\t>\n<div class=\"siteorigin-widget-tinymce textwidget\">\n\t<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-1534\" src=\"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OIG3.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"1024\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OIG3.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OIG3-300x300.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OIG3-150x150.jpg 150w, https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/OIG3-768x768.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/p>\n<p>Patient discharge is the final process in a patient's stay in the hospital. Instead of being smooth process, often the discharge process creates pain for the patient as well as the hospital. The delay often is unpredictable and can span between 2 hours to a full day depending on how insurance clearance process is handled. The insurer-hospitals\u2019 meeting on 9th of this month (October, 2025) has this process under discussion for the right reasons.<br \/>\nThe delay for the hospital, means the room is occupied, instead of being prepared for the next patient. It also means pain and added room rental bill for the patient. Economic Times <a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/wealth\/insure\/health-insurance\/delay-in-discharge-from-hospital-remains-a-pain-point-for-policyholders-will-it-improve-soon-with-insurers-and-hospitals-coming-together\/articleshow\/124798286.cms\">post<\/a> claims, the delay is attributed to, mainly,<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Legacy IT systems<\/li>\n<li>Bureaucratic treatment file movement<\/li>\n<li>\u201cAvoidable\u201d insurer queries<\/li>\n<li>Final bill different from initially approved amount<\/li>\n<li>Distrust, inefficient coordination between hospitals, insurers<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>We also found multiple earlier reports that highlight the pain of discharge process.<\/p>\n<h4>Here is a short summary:<\/h4>\n<table>\n<thead>\n<tr>\n<th>#<\/th>\n<th>Study (Authors \/ Location)<\/th>\n<th>Setting &amp; Sample<\/th>\n<th>Key Metrics (Delay, Time)<\/th>\n<th>Main Findings \/ Causes of Delay<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n<\/thead>\n<tbody>\n<tr>\n<td>1<\/td>\n<td>Reducing discharge delays: using DMAIC approach in a tertiary care hospital (Sharma et al., Dehradun, Uttarakhand) (<a title=\"Reducing discharge delays: using DMAIC approach in a tertiary care hospital | International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ijcmph.com\/index.php\/ijcmph\/article\/view\/14327?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">IJCMPH<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Tertiary-care hospital, North India; 1,000 discharged patients<\/td>\n<td>Pre-intervention: discharge summary ~235 \u00b1 78 min; financing clearance ~436 \u00b1 451 min; total ~329 \u00b1 389 min. Post-intervention: summary ~72.6 \u00b1 42 min; clearance ~162.6 \u00b1 95 min; total ~208.1 \u00b1 122.9 min. (<a title=\"Reducing discharge delays: using DMAIC approach in a tertiary care hospital | International Journal Of Community Medicine And Public Health\" href=\"https:\/\/www.ijcmph.com\/index.php\/ijcmph\/article\/view\/14327?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">IJCMPH<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Use of DMAIC (process improvement) reduced delays significantly. Bottlenecks: financing clearance, summary preparation.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>2<\/td>\n<td>A cross\u2011sectional study on delay in discharge in a tertiary care hospital in the Malwa region of Punjab (Sharma et al., Bathinda, Punjab) (<a title=\"[PDF] A cross-sectional study on delay in discharge in a tertiary care hospital in the Malwa Region of Punjab | CiteDrive\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citedrive.com\/en\/discovery\/a-cross-sectional-study-on-delay-in-discharge-in-a-tertiary-care-hospital-in-the-malwa-region-of-punjab\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">CiteDrive<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Tertiary hospital; n = 250 patients<\/td>\n<td>~80% of participants faced delay; ~40% spent more than 5 h to complete discharge. Average time nearly double the standard set by National Accreditation Board for Hospitals &amp; Healthcare Providers (NABH) standards. (<a title=\"[PDF] A cross-sectional study on delay in discharge in a tertiary care hospital in the Malwa Region of Punjab | CiteDrive\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citedrive.com\/en\/discovery\/a-cross-sectional-study-on-delay-in-discharge-in-a-tertiary-care-hospital-in-the-malwa-region-of-punjab\/?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">CiteDrive<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Delays at almost all steps except \u201creturn of medicines\u201d; patient dissatisfaction high (only ~20% fully satisfied).<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>3<\/td>\n<td>(Indian hospital, general ward) (<a title=\"&quot;Audit of efficacy of patient discharge process- Are we really up to the mark?\u201d\" href=\"https:\/\/apsj.journals.ekb.eg\/article_406376.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Annals of Pediatric Surgery<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Paediatric surgery general ward; n = 100 sequential discharges<\/td>\n<td>Self\u2010pay group average turn-around time (TAT) ~332 min; credit billing group ~397 min. NABH standard was 180 min (self pay) \/ 240 min (credit billing) but delays existed. (<a title=\"&quot;Audit of efficacy of patient discharge process- Are we really up to the mark?\u201d\" href=\"https:\/\/apsj.journals.ekb.eg\/article_406376.html?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Annals of Pediatric Surgery<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Credit billing (insurance\/third-party) patients experienced larger delays. Main delay causes: billing process, insurance processing systems.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>4<\/td>\n<td>Pristyn Care survey study (India wide) \u2013 \u201cFive out of 10 patients face discharge delays due to medical insurance claims\u201d (<a title=\"Health Insurance Claims: Five out of 10 patients face discharge delays due to medical insurance claims processing time, ETHealthworld\" href=\"https:\/\/health.economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/industry\/five-out-of-10-patients-face-discharge-delays-due-to-medical-insurance-claims-processing-time\/109696645?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">ETHealthworld.com<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Survey across major Indian cities; size ~4,000 respondents. (<a title=\"Slow claim processing delays patient-discharge \u2014 Study - Healthcare Radius\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcareradius.in\/market-research\/slow-claim-processing-delays-patient-discharge-study?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">Healthcare Radius<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>~50% of patients report discharge delay due to claim processing time. ~40% attribute delay to hospital administrative processes; ~25% to lack of coordination between hospitals &amp; insurers. (<a title=\"Health Insurance Claims: Five out of 10 patients face discharge delays due to medical insurance claims processing time, ETHealthworld\" href=\"https:\/\/health.economictimes.indiatimes.com\/news\/industry\/five-out-of-10-patients-face-discharge-delays-due-to-medical-insurance-claims-processing-time\/109696645?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">ETHealthworld.com<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Claim\/insurance-related delays are major contributor. Even with high cashless coverage, process inefficiencies persist.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>5<\/td>\n<td>Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy (not India-specific, but relevant for comparison) (<a title=\"Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy | BMC Health Services Research | Full Text\" href=\"https:\/\/bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/1472-6963-12-410?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">BioMed Central<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Study of 99 inpatient episodes (elective &amp; acute) in hospital over 4 months<\/td>\n<td>Delays contributed 271 unnecessary days (19% of total bed-occupancy days) due to discharge process delays. (<a title=\"Delay in discharge and its impact on unnecessary hospital bed occupancy | BMC Health Services Research | Full Text\" href=\"https:\/\/bmchealthservres.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/1472-6963-12-410?utm_source=chatgpt.com\">BioMed Central<\/a>)<\/td>\n<td>Highlights impact of discharge delay on bed occupancy and hospital efficiency; though not strictly India, gives useful context.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n<p>There is no magic bullet, otherwise the problem would have been solved by now. ET <a href=\"https:\/\/economictimes.indiatimes.com\/wealth\/insure\/health-insurance\/delay-in-discharge-from-hospital-remains-a-pain-point-for-policyholders-will-it-improve-soon-with-insurers-and-hospitals-coming-together\/articleshow\/124798286.cms\">article<\/a> identified a few suggestion to help the process. Among them are:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Advance intimation of discharge by hospitals<\/li>\n<li>Efficient information exchange to cut down admin delays<\/li>\n<li>Investigations by insurers should start earlier<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Even others have pointed out other ways but bulk of them focus on the process improvement and better coordination between the hospital, TPA (Third-party Agency) and Insurance provider. There is no doubt that most of the time clearance process is stuck in the interaction chain between those three entities.<\/p>\n<p>But it is also observed that RTLS does enable faster discharge by automating information flow which otherwise are done manually inside the various entities in the hospital.<\/p>\n<h2>How RTLS helped Hospitals reduce discharge delay<\/h2>\n<p data-start=\"3325\" data-end=\"3445\">A hospital in Texas (CHRISTUS Santa Rosa Hospital\u2011Westover Hills) reported that after deploying RTLS tagged bracelets:<\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"3448\" data-end=\"3733\">\n<li data-start=\"3448\" data-end=\"3577\">\n<p data-start=\"3450\" data-end=\"3577\">The system notified staff of open beds <strong data-start=\"3489\" data-end=\"3511\">2 hours 40 minutes<\/strong> sooner than manual entry. <span class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"><span class=\"ms-1 inline-flex max-w-full items-center relative top-[-0.094rem] animate-[show_150ms_ease-in]\" data-testid=\"webpage-citation-pill\"><a class=\"flex h-4.5 overflow-hidden rounded-xl px-2 text-[9px] font-medium transition-colors duration-150 ease-in-out text-token-text-secondary! bg-[#F4F4F4]! dark:bg-[#303030]!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcareitnews.com\/news\/rtls-helps-texas-hospital-save-big-time-and-money-patient-discharge?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"relative start-0 bottom-0 flex h-full w-full items-center\"><span class=\"flex h-4 w-full items-center justify-between overflow-hidden\"><span class=\"max-w-[15ch] grow truncate overflow-hidden text-center\">Healthcare IT News<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"3580\" data-end=\"3733\">\n<p data-start=\"3582\" data-end=\"3733\">They calculated this saved 2,339 hours of bed-prep\/\u201cpull next patient\u201d time over 12 months for 4,000+ discharges. <span class=\"\" data-state=\"closed\"><span class=\"ms-1 inline-flex max-w-full items-center relative top-[-0.094rem] animate-[show_150ms_ease-in]\" data-testid=\"webpage-citation-pill\"><a class=\"flex h-4.5 overflow-hidden rounded-xl px-2 text-[9px] font-medium transition-colors duration-150 ease-in-out text-token-text-secondary! bg-[#F4F4F4]! dark:bg-[#303030]!\" href=\"https:\/\/www.healthcareitnews.com\/news\/rtls-helps-texas-hospital-save-big-time-and-money-patient-discharge?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"relative start-0 bottom-0 flex h-full w-full items-center\"><span class=\"flex h-4 w-full items-center justify-between overflow-hidden\"><span class=\"max-w-[15ch] grow truncate overflow-hidden text-center\">Healthcare IT News<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Here are a few ways a RTLS helps a hospital to reduce the discharge delay:<\/p>\n<p data-start=\"639\" data-end=\"669\"><strong data-start=\"639\" data-end=\"667\">\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0Faster bed\/room turnover<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul data-start=\"673\" data-end=\"1272\">\n<li data-start=\"673\" data-end=\"940\">\n<p data-start=\"675\" data-end=\"940\">When a patient leaves, an RTLS tag or location sensor can automatically notify housekeeping\/cleaning\/bed-prep teams, so they start the cleaning\/preparation of the bed immediately (rather than waiting for manual notification). This reduces idle time from when a discharge is medically cleared to when the bed is ready for the next patient (or when the current patient exit tasks wrap up).<\/p>\n<\/li>\n<li data-start=\"673\" data-end=\"940\">RTLS gives live location\/status of patients, staff, equipment; this allows staff to see which patients are ready to go, which beds are vacant, and which pieces of equipment are available. <span class=\"\" data-state=\"delayed-open\" aria-describedby=\"radix-_r_30_\"><span class=\"ms-1 inline-flex max-w-full items-center relative top-[-0.094rem] animate-[show_150ms_ease-in]\" data-testid=\"webpage-citation-pill\" aria-describedby=\"radix-_r_30_\"><a class=\"flex h-4.5 overflow-hidden rounded-xl px-2 text-[9px] font-medium transition-colors duration-150 ease-in-out bg-token-text-primary! text-token-main-surface-primary!\" href=\"https:\/\/ij-healthgeographics.biomedcentral.com\/articles\/10.1186\/1476-072X-11-25?utm_source=chatgpt.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><span class=\"relative start-0 bottom-0 flex h-full w-full items-center\"><span class=\"flex h-4 w-full items-center justify-between\"><span class=\"max-w-[15ch] grow truncate overflow-hidden text-center\">BioMed Central<\/span><span class=\"-me-1 flex h-full items-center rounded-full px-1 text-[#8F8F8F] text-token-main-surface-tertiary\">+1<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/li>\n<li data-start=\"673\" data-end=\"940\">Delay in \u201cwaiting for transport\u201d or \u201cwaiting for discharge summary\" or \"pharmacy clearance\u201d often caused by lack of visibility. For example, if the system shows that a patient is ready but the porter or transport team hasn\u2019t been dispatched, it causes unnecessary delay. An automated notification enables faster transition between these phases.\n<p>Of course even with all these, bulk of the delay is not going to reduce more than 20% if the friction in documentation sharing, interaction and coordination between the three parties are not addressed. However even if 20% of the discharge time is shortened it creates a big saving for the Hospital in reducing average Length of Stay (LOS) for a patient<\/p>\n<p>A California Healthcare Foundation study found, \"F<strong><em>or a 275-bed hospital, reducing the average length of stay by four hours is equivalent to increasing physical capacity by ten beds<\/em><\/strong>\".<br \/>\nRTLS is slowly becoming integral to the improved cost and operational efficiency in a hospital. Here we showed how it also improves patient discharge latency.<\/p><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Patient discharge is the final process in a patient&#8217;s stay in the hospital. Instead of being smooth process, often the discharge process creates pain for the patient as well as the hospital. The delay often is unpredictable and can span between 2 hours to a full day depending on how insurance clearance process is handled. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[63,18,51,1],"tags":[69],"class_list":["post-1533","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-ble-rtls","category-healthcare-rtls","category-rfid-rtls","category-uncategorized","tag-patient-discharge-delay"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1533"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1536,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1533\/revisions\/1536"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1533"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1533"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.indtrac.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1533"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}