Acute Medical Ward for better care coordination of patients admitted with infection - evidence from a tertiary hospital in Singapore.

Coordination and consolidation of care provided in acute care hospitals need reconfiguration and reorganization to meet the demand of large number of acute admissions. We report on the effectiveness of an Acute Medical Ward AMW (AMW) receiving cases that were suspected to have infection related diagnosis on admission by Emergency Department (ED), addressing this in a large tertiary hospital in South East Asia. Mean Length of Stay (LOS) was compared using Gamma Generalized Linear Models with Log-link while odds of readmissions and mortality were compared using logistic regression models. The LOS (mean: 5.8 days, SD: 9.1 days) of all patients admitted to AMW was similar to discharge diagnosis-matched general ward (GW) patients admitted before AMW implementation, readmission rates were lower (15-day: 5.3%, 30-day: 8.1%). Bivariate and multivariate models revealed that mean LOS after AMW implementation was not significantly different from before AMW implementation (Ratio: 0.99, p=0.473). Our AMW had reduced readmission rates for patients with infection but has not made an overall impact on the LOS and readmission rates for the department as a whole.