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Sep 14, 2022
White Paper

Strategic Guide to Implementing a Discharge Hospitality Center

A patient’s delayed access to an inpatient bed can result in emergency department overcrowding, lack of appropriate care, or the need to be transferred to another hospital, all leading to concerns about patient safety.

Over the years, to address these and other patient flow issues and capacity constraints, hospitals have experimented with establishing Discharge Lounges or Discharge Hospitality Centers (DHCs). These areas are set aside in hospitals to allow discharged patients to vacate their inpatient room while they wait elsewhere for final discharge departure.

This paper outlines suggested criteria to consider for implementing a successful Discharge Hospitality Center.