Association between length of hospital stay and implementation of discharge planning in acute XXXX inpatients in Japan.

@entity1 @entity161 @entity146
BACKGROUND: Japan has introduced an acute @entity146 care unit to the public healthcare insurance program, but its requirement of a shorter length of stay could lead to discharges without proper discharge planning. The aim of this study was to examine the association between the implementation of discharge planning and the length of stay of acute @entity146 inpatients in Japan. METHODS: This retrospective cross-sectional study included 449 @entity1 discharged from the ' @entity146 emergency ward' of 66 hospitals during a two-week period from March 7 to 20, 2011. The assigned nurse or nursing assistant for each @entity1 provided information on the implementation of discharge planning in the hospital stay. RESULTS: Approximately one quarter of the 449 @entity1 (n  =  122) received no support for coordination with post-discharge community care resources. The 122 @entity1 who had received no support for community care coordination had a significantly lower mean age at admission, a shorter length of stay, and a higher rate of either no follow-up or unidentified post-discharge outpatient service than the other 327 @entity1 . Multilevel linear regression analysis demonstrated a significantly greater length of stay among @entity1 who were older, those who had a primary diagnosis of @entity161 , those who were admitted compulsorily, those who received hospital outpatient services, and those who received community care coordination support from the assigned nurse or nursing assistant. The implementation of support for community care coordination did not indicate a significant association with these factors, which have been related to an increased risk of @entity146 readmission. CONCLUSION: @entity1 to whom the assigned nurse or nursing assistant provided support on community care coordination experienced a significantly greater length of hospital stay. The implementation of support for community care coordination did not indicate a significant association with these factors, which have been related to an increased risk of @entity146 readmission. The mental health policy should increase focus on discharge planning in the acute @entity146 setting to enhance a link between @entity146 inpatient care and post-discharge community care resources.
