BED-BLOCKERS - DELAYED DISCHARGE OF HOSPITAL PATIENTS IN A NATIONWIDEPERSPECTIVE IN SWEDEN

Between 1989 and 1992 the number of 'bed-blocking' patients in Sweden decreased from 15 to 7% according to national registers containing app rox. 4000 patients. Part of this reduction can be explained by the 199 2 Elderly Reform, which placed economic responsibility for bed-blocker s on municipalities. However, the decrease began before the economic r eform, implying that other factors are also involved, such as access t o alternative institutional beds and other forms of care. An in-depth study of one district has provided a description of these often elderl y patients, their heavy hospital utilization both before and after the bed-blocking period and their mortality. Nearly half the patients wer e dead within a year. Bed-blocking is a poorly defined concept requiri ng urgent discussion. Other related topics to which attention should b e drawn are the administrative costs of economic control systems and e fficient utilization of public resources as a whole.