What is it about?
A running average is a good way to detect curious on/off patterns. A running 7-day average of hospital bed occupancy reveals curious outbreaks of 7-day long high bed occupancy. These approximate 7-day periods probably arise from outbreaks of common viruses such as Rhinovirus, etc. Clearly, this has wider implications into the workload experienced in primary and social care.
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Why is it important?
Short-term fluctuations in demand can overwhelm any system. This work explains that the patterns in healthcare demand may be more complex than first appreciated.
Perspectives
This is part of a longer series of papers and articles investigating why healthcare demand and costs behave in such peculiar ways. See http://www.hcaf.biz/2010/Publications_Full.pdf
Dr Rodney P Jones
Healthcare Analysis & Forecasting
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Local 7-day patterns of on/off switching in acute bed occupancy, British Journal of Healthcare Management, February 2018, Mark Allen Group,
DOI: 10.12968/bjhc.2018.24.2.100.
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