Characteristics of Weekday and Weekend Hospital Admissions

Abstract

Of the 39.5 million community hospital stays in 2007, 7.7 million stays or about 19 percent began on a weekend.\r\rA smaller share of weekend than weekday admissions was elective (11 percent weekend and 28 percent weekday); a larger share was admitted through the emergency department (65 percent weekend and 44 percent weekday) or died in-hospital (2.4 percent weekend and 1.8 percent weekday).\r\rPatients admitted on weekends tend to experience delays in receiving major procedures. On the day of admission, weekend-admitted patients received 36 percent of major procedures that they would receive during their stays, compared to 65 percent for patients admitted on weekdays. This delay may be related to the scheduled nature of weekday procedures, but may also be an indicator of quality of care.\r\rBy the first day after admission, 64 percent of weekend-admitted patients with heart attacks received major cardiac procedures, compared with 76 percent for weekday-admitted patients. Similarly, 44 percent of weekend-admitted patients with GI bleeds received GI endoscopy, compared with 58 percent of weekday-admitted patients.\r\rThirty-four percent of all admissions for crushing or internal injuries and 32 percent for brain injuries prompted weekend admissions in 2007.