A Five Year Retrospective Study of Bed Utilization Trends in a Tertiary Care Teaching Institution.

Healthcare resources need to maintain pace with the increasing population and expectations. A hospital bed is a very important but limited healthcare resource. This 5 year study analyses the trends in the various bed utilization indices, bed utilization being an objective measure of the efficiency of any hospital management system. The study indicates that although the various indices fall within the described optimal, there is yet a lot of reserve on the available resources particularly so far as a hospital bed is concerned. The study emphasizes the role of analysis and assessment of bed utilization indices with a view to improving utilization of this scarce resource.