Does a community based recovery service reduce inpatient bed days?

Objective: Increasing options for the delivery of community-based care may be one way to reduce inpatient bed pressures. This study set out to examine the effect of community-based step up/step down (SUSD) care on hospital usage for service users with multi-service usage. Methods: A retrospective audit was undertaken of the medical records of all individuals admitted to a SUSD unit over a 2-year period, calculating inpatient bed days for the 12 months prior to, and the 12 months after, the SUSD admission. Results: There was a statistically nonsignificant decrease in bed days in the 12 months following admission. Conclusion: It is possible that inpatient bed day reduction may not be an appropriate outcome measure for a service built on principles of personal recovery. How to translate recovery-outcomes to justifiable financial benefits for services requires further consideration and alignment of values with reporting measures.

Automated summary

By examining the impact of community-based step up/step down (SUSD) care on hospital usage, it was found that there was a decrease in inpatient bed days in the 12 months following admission, although this was not statistically significant. Further consideration is needed to determine whether reducing inpatient bed days is an appropriate outcome measure for services based on principles of personal recovery.