The hospital is not a hotel

Here is an argument by Dr. Robert Wachter that having a set discharge time for patients is counter-productive (here). From a practical stand-point hospitals push to get any pateints they can out by 11am (at least discharge orders written) so they know how many beds are available. In reality, discharges happen all day long and the push for 11am can be a major pain.

Dr. Wachter discusses the implications to staff and approaches it from a classic queue theory standpoint. Even though I experience the same thing, I never really stopped to think about it. From a lean process point of view, one would think, that it's the difference between batch processing (which is inefficient and needs greater resources) and one-piece work flow (one-patient in, one-patient out). I think hospitals may actually be costing themselves money by using the 11am model.