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Does a hospital lose revenue when it’s on ambulance diversion? To answer this question, researchers analyzed the effect of increased intensive care unit (ICU) capacity on ambulance diversion and associated hospital revenue.
The study hospital — a 400-bed, urban, academic, acute care facility — increased the number of ICU beds from 47 to 67 in mid-2002. After the change, time on ambulance diversion decreased by 63% (from a mean of 307 hours to 114 hours per month), and the number of ambulance arrivals increased by 18% (from a mean of 384 to 452 per month). After the ICU expansion, the hospital had a net facility revenue gain of $175,000 per month from nontrauma ambulance patients. (Patients with major trauma were not included in the analysis …