Abdulslam Mohammed
Co-Founder of Corporate Health Ghana limited, Ghana
Title: Integration of Home Based and Digital Health Care: Mitigating Factors That Lead to No-Bed Syndrome and Prolonged Length of Patient Stay in Ghana
Biography
Biography: Abdulslam Mohammed
Abstract
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM : Honey, J. (2017, April) established the correlation between length of stay and overcrowding; termed No-Bed Syndrome (NBS) in Ghanaian Health System. Data shows that, The NBS at the emergency unit of Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital(KBTH), built in 1923 with over2000 bed capacity, Ghana's premier Hospital, is positively correlated with prolonged hospital stay of patients at the medical ward, because over fifty percent (50%) of cases presented at the Emergency Department are medical related. With many reports of patients losing life due to The NBS. The issue became a subject of many media publications, commentary from the general public, including the Parliament of Ghana proposing criminalization of the act. The purpose of this paper is to develop a conceptual framework to underscore the major causes and contributing factors of the problem and assess how integration of home care and digital health care can mitigate these factors . METHODOLOGY :This study reviewed available literature and studies on the subject matter .Retrospective analysis of data on cases presented at the emergency unit of KBTH was done. In-depth interviews with a cross section of health professionals regarding reasons for prolonged length of stay and the no-bed syndrome was conducted. FINDINGS: Prolonged Hospital stay of patients in KBTH is affected by four main interlinked factors emanating from patients, health staff, the facility and external complimentary system. Delay in discharge planning and Lack of effective usage of computerized clinical decisions delays clinical judgements of doctors. No integration of home care prolonged the stay of most patients with chronic conditions, who otherwise could have been discharged earlier to free beds for acute cases. Many studies have also linked home care services with reduction and length of stay and risk for hospital readmission by about 25%. “It has become increasingly clear that UHC cannot be achieved without the support of e-Health.(WHO) RECOMMENDATIONS: National Stakeholders must develop policies to integrate and regulate home and digital health care in the mainstream health service to improve quality, solve critical problems and improve on access to health care.