ArticleHealth services insights2020
"Working Against Gravity": The Uphill Task of Overcapacity Management.
Article in Health services insights, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 8 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
8 citing papers in PubMed.
- Pragmatic Evaluation of an Urban-Based Emergency Telepsychiatry Program in Winnipeg, Canada: Évaluation pragmatique d'un programme urbain de télépsychiatrie d'urgence à Winnipeg, au Canada.Canadian journal of psychiatry. Revue canadienne de psychiatrie · 2026Article
- Continuous quality improvement across a South Australian health service and the role it plays in a learning health system: a qualitative study.BMC health services research · 2025Article
- Lifting the curtain on the emergency department crisis: a multi-method reception study of Larry Saves the Canadian Healthcare System.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- The Inflow, Throughput and Outflow of COVID-19 Patients in Dutch Hospitals: Experiences from Experts and Middle Managers.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Article
- The impact of atypical intrahospital transfers on patient outcomes: a mixed methods study.Scientific reports · 2023Article
- Through An Equity Lens: Illuminating The Relationships Among Social Inequities, Stigma And Discrimination, And Patient Experiences of Emergency Health Care.International journal of health services : planning, administration, evaluation · 2022Article
- Enhancing palliative care occupancy and efficiency: a quality improvement project that uses a healthcare pathway for service integration and policy development.BMJ open quality · 2021Article
- Despite Interventions, Emergency Flow Stagnates in Urban Western Canada.Healthcare policy = Politiques de sante · 2021Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
While most health systems have implemented interventions to manage situations in which patient demand exceeds capacity, little is known about the long-term sustainability or effectiveness of such interventions. A large multi-jurisdictional study on patient flow in Western Canada provided the opportunity to explore experiences with overcapacity management strategies across 10 diverse health regions. Four categories of interventions were employed by all or most regions: overcapacity protocols, alternative locations for emergency patients, locations for discharge-ready inpatients, and meetings to guide redistribution of patients. Two mechanisms undergirded successful interventions: providing a capacity buffer and promoting action by inpatient units by increasing staff accountability and/or solidarity. Participants reported that interventions demanded significant time and resources and the ongoing active involvement of middle and senior management. Furthermore, although most participants characterized overcapacity management practices as effective, this effectiveness was almost universally experienced as temporary. Many regions described a context of chronic overcapacity, which persisted despite continued intervention. Processes designed to manage short-term surges in demand cannot rectify a long-term mismatch between capacity and demand; solutions at the level of system redesign are needed.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.