Many Floridians report longer wait times to be discharged from their local hospitals, according to the latest findings from a more than two-year study by the Florida Hospital Association (FHA).
According to the data, the FHA report found that there were more than 780,000 avoidable hospital days, nearly 1 in 10 patients had to wait for discharge, and 41% of these patients were waiting for health insurance approval for follow-up care.
FHA President and CEO Mary Mayhew said the impact of these delays is having a significant impact on patient recovery and access to appropriate care, exacerbating stress on families and creating emergency department (ED) bottlenecks for patients requiring inpatient beds.
These delays create additional costs to the system, with preventable health spending estimated to total $2.5 billion in 2025.
“No patient should be hospitalized for longer than is appropriate for their medical needs,” said Mary Mayhew, FHA President and CEO. “Patients deserve timely access to the next level of care, critical services, and assistance to help them recover and heal.” “Our data shows that many patients are delayed in their discharge from the hospital due to a lack of timely insurance approval.”
Some important discoveries.
243,000 medically diagnosed patients were admitted due to delays beyond the hospital’s control Delays in obtaining pre-authorization for medical plans accounted for 41% of discharge delays Nearly half of delayed patients were covered by Medicare Advantage plans, 52% of delays were related to prior authorization, and approximately 4,000 of these patients waited more than a week for admission Delays resulted in 781,000 unnecessary hospitalization days, resulting in $2.5 billion in preventable health care costs. 7.4% of ED patients, or 158,000 people, waited more than 12 hours for a bed. Causing downstream effects on other patients 41% of patients were waiting for a bed in a skilled nursing or rehabilitation facility.
