SHM Converge Scientific Abstract ePoster Gallery-Adjusting Hospitalist Switch Day From Monday to Tuesday Is Associated With Lower Unplanned Readmission Rates

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This retrospective observational study examined whether changing the hospitalist “switch day” from Monday to Tuesday affected unplanned hospital readmissions. The study was conducted on six general medicine units at an 885-bed urban academic hospital in New York City. Hospitalists worked a seven-on/seven-off schedule. The intervention began on April 18, 2022, and the analysis compared a pre-intervention period (April 1, 2021–March 31, 2022) with a post-intervention period (May 1, 2022–April 30, 2023); April 2022 was excluded as a rollout month.<br /><br />After the switch day changed to Tuesday, discharge patterns shifted: more patients were discharged on Mondays and fewer on Tuesdays. Specifically, Monday discharges increased by 1.4%, while Tuesday discharges decreased by 1.7%. Importantly, unplanned readmissions fell by 1.5% after the intervention, and readmission rates by discharge day of the week remained unchanged.<br /><br />The authors conclude that hospital scheduling and continuity of care can influence patient outcomes. Moving the hospitalist switch day to Tuesday appears to support better outcomes by reducing unplanned readmissions. Because lower readmission rates can save substantial healthcare costs, the findings suggest that this scheduling change may be beneficial. However, the authors note that further studies in other hospital settings are needed to confirm these results and to explore whether other switch-day patterns could further improve care quality and hospital performance.

Asset Subtitle

Larry Nguyen

Meta Tag

Author List Adriana Quinones-Camacho, Benjamin Verplanke, Jesse Rafel, Katherine Hochman, Kevin P. Eaton, Larry Nguyen, Lauren Messing

Category Research

Concept Hospitalist Switch Day

Concept Readmission

Concept Retrospective observational study

Concept Monday Discharge

Concept Tuesday Discharge

Distinguished Finalist

Presenter Organization NYU Grossman School of Medicine

Presenting Author Larry Nguyen

Track Quality Improvement

Keywords

hospitalist switch day

unplanned readmissions

retrospective observational study

hospital scheduling

continuity of care

general medicine units

discharge patterns

Tuesday switch day

patient outcomes

healthcare costs

Hospitalist Switch Day

Readmission

Retrospective observational study

Monday Discharge

Tuesday Discharge