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Longer hospital stays maybe cheaper, U-M study says

Wednesday, March 03, 2010

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Ann Arbor

Researchers from Ann Arbor continue to prove conventional wisdom wrong. This time it's that longer hospital stays are indeed cheaper in the long run.

Excerpt:

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Hospitals that send patients home earlier can save money and the policy does not end up costing more later, researchers reported on Monday.

The intensive look at two common conditions -- pneumonia and heart failure -- showed that it may be possible to lower costs in the U.S. system without hurting patients, the researchers reported in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

"Most evidence did not support the 'penny wise and pound foolish' hypothesis that low-cost hospitals discharge patients earlier but have higher readmission rates and greater downstream inpatient cost of care," Dr. Lena Chen of the Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center and colleagues wrote.

Read the rest of the story here.