Creating virtual capacity

: the case of Hospital Vila Franca de Xira

Abstract

The global economic problem defined by the scarcity of resources, also influences the Healthcare sector. People are living longer and making a heavier use of healthcare. Due to the financial crisis, budgets are becoming tighter and the task of managing hospitals is more and more demanding. Also, according to a recent study from McKinsey, improved management practices are associated with better clinical outcomes. The need for efficiency led the Portuguese government to attract private financing as a way of quickly renewing the national hospital network, and in 2011, the management of HVFX was handed over to JMS, for 10 years. The hospital activity has been growing in all fields, and during 2013, the first year of performing activity in a new building, overcapacity problems were experienced. The assumption of insufficient capacity is based on the premise that beds, which are currently in the system, are being used at maximum efficiency. The analysis of unnecessary days of hospitalization, days patients stay at the hospital without the need of acute care, led us to conclude that there is space for a more efficient management. Of the 89.221 inpatients days registered in 2013, 5.6% (5.036) are considered as possibly avoidable. At least 14 beds were permanently occupied unnecessarily during the year. On average, LOS reduces 0.4 days per month and if there had not been inappropriate days of hospitalization, the accumulated value for the year of 2013, 6.8 days, would turn into 6.4 days. Virtually increasing the hospital’s capacity demands the cooperation of all staff, mainly improving communication. This way, the hospital will be able to improve accessibility to care, treat more patients and, as consequence, generate additional revenue since it will increase patient volume in a profitable way.

Date of Award	2015
Original language	English
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Pedro Oliveira (Supervisor)