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A common strategy used by hospitals to reduce overcrowding of inpatient units may not produce consistent results, a new study suggests. Discharges Before Noon, or DCBNs, are thought to mitigate overcrowding and improve patient outcomes by allowing for earlier emergency department admissions; however, studies of the relationship between DCBNs and length of stay have had mixed results. At the same time, early discharge rates remain a high priority for many hospitals across the country.


A common strategy used by hospitals to reduce overcrowding of inpatient units may not produce consistent results, a new study suggests. Discharges Before Noon, or DCBNs, are thought to mitigate overcrowding and improve patient outcomes by allowing for earlier emergency department admissions; however, studies of the relationship between DCBNs and length of stay have had mixed results. At the same time, early discharge rates remain a high priority for many hospitals across the country.

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Does a Discharge Before Noon affect length of hospital stay? Perhaps.

A common strategy used by hospitals to reduce overcrowding of inpatient units may not produce consistent results, a new study suggests. Discharges Before Noon, or DCBNs, are thought to mitigate overcrowding and improve patient outcomes by allowing for earlier emergency department admissions; however, studies of the relationship between DCBNs and length of stay have had mixed results. At the same time, early discharge rates remain a high priority for many hospitals across the country.

To better understand this relationship, Hailey J. James, MHA, and George M. Holmes, PhD, of the Department of Health Policy and Management at the Gillings School of Global Public Health partnered with Michael J. Steiner, MD, MPH, and John R. Stephens, MD, of the Department of Pediatrics at the School of Medicine.

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