Memo to Patients: Don't Get Admitted to The Hospital on a Weekend

[The Straight Story]

Memo to Patients: Don't Get Admitted to The Hospital on a Weekend



Patients admitted to the hospital on weekends are 30 percent more likely to die there than those who arrive on weekdays. And guess why? It turns out that most doctors are reluctant to work irregular hours, which in turn delays care for weekend patients.

According to a new study from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), delays in treating conditions such as heart attacks, angina, gall bladder problems and complicated hernias were much more common for patients admitted on weekends than for those hospitalized during the week. Just 36 percent of weekend-admitted patients received major procedures on the day of admission, versus 65 percent of those admitted on weekdays.

Of the 19 percent of all hospitalized patients who were admitted on the weekend, 2.4 percent died during their stay. In contrast, only 1.8 percent of patients admitted on weekdays died in the hospital. To some extent, this reflects the fact that far more patients admitted on weekends (65 percent) than on weekdays (44 percent) came in as emergency cases, rather than scheduled admissions.

But both sets of patients had similar characteristics, and their average lengths of stay and costs per admission were close. So the higher number of emergency cases on weekends does not fully explain the higher mortality rate among those patients. Moreover, emergency cases usually require more prompt attention than patients who come in for elective procedures. Delays in providing treatment may “be an indicator of quality of care,” the researchers said.

http://industry.bnet.com/healthcare/10002014/memo-to-patients-dont-get-admitted-to-the-hospital-on-a-weekend/

[aquart]

1. That's what I've always been told.

[dmr]

2. Plus hospital personnel are cut in half, or are on-call n/t

[REP]

3. Or during 'the killing season' - July - August

See The Lancet and BMJ for studies.

[Fire_Medic_Dave]

4. I almost killed a young doctor when my Dad had a stroke.

He developed pneumonia and we asked this young intern what the delay was on his antibiotic and he responded, " Well, it is the weekend." Fortunately for him my sister was closer to him and she got to him first.

[SoCalDem]

5. or during Xmas holidays.. My friend called her hubby at midnight

on Dec 26th to say good night and to tell him to come & get her at 7 am the next am..

at 5 am they called to tell him she was dead..

She was admitted Christmas evening for abdominal pain.. they checked her out, and did not come to any conclusions, but did admit her, for rehydration and to run some tests..

I believe (my own opinion. mind you) that since she was such a small woman (about 95 lbs)..someone goofed & gave her something in her IV by mistake..or gave her too high a dose of something..

My friend Chuck was devastated to lose her.. their 42nd wedding anniversary would have been Dec 29th.. His last words to her were.. "I love you baby,,have a nice sleep..I'll see you in the morning"..