Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/9533
Title: The public hospital of the future.
Austin Authors: Zajac, Jeffrey D 
Affiliation: Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, Austin Health, Heidelberg, VIC.
Issue Date: 1-Sep-2003
Publication information: Medical Journal of Australia; 179(5): 250-2
Abstract: Public hospitals designed for the past are not changing rapidly enough to meet the needs of the future. Changing work practices, increased pressure on bed occupancy, and greater numbers of patients with complex diseases and comorbidities will determine the functions of future hospitals. To maximise the use of resources, hospital "down times" on weekends and public holidays will be a distant memory. Elective surgery will increase in the traditionally "quiet times", such as summer, and decrease in the busy winter period. The patient will be the focus of an efficient information flow, streamlining patient care in hospital and enhancing communication between hospitals and community-based health providers. General and specialty units will need to work more efficiently together, as general physicians take on the role of patient case managers for an increasing proportion of patients. Funding needs to be adequate, and system management should involve clinicians. Safety will be enshrined in hospital systems and procedures, as well as in the minds of hospital staff. If these changes are not implemented successfully, public hospitals will not survive in the future.
Gov't Doc #: 12924972
URI: https://ahro.austin.org.au/austinjspui/handle/1/9533
Journal: Medical Journal of Australia
URL: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/12924972
Type: Journal Article
Subjects: Australia
Elective Surgical Procedures
Forecasting
Hospital Restructuring
Hospitals, Public.organization & administration.trends.utilization
Humans
Personnel, Hospital
Physician-Patient Relations
Appears in Collections:Journal articles

Show full item record

Page view(s)

10
checked on Mar 28, 2024

Google ScholarTM

Check


Items in AHRO are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.