Bed-blocking consists of:
(1) a person (often elderly) who is in an acute care hospital bed
(2) the person no longer requires acute care and can be discharged or transferred
(3) the person cannot be discharged or transferred for an operational reason
(4) the bed is not available for someone who needs acute care (the bed is blocked)
Reasons for bed blocking:
(1) sudden influx overloading the system
(2) lack of resources to properly transfer a patient to
(3) inefficient system
(4) difficult situation with no better solution
Implications:
(1) The additional cost of caring for someone who could be handled in a lower-cost setting.
(2) Inability to use resources for someone who does need acute care.
(3) Negative morale if reason is lack of adequate resources.
