Bed Management and Patient Flow

1. Program overview

Patient flow problems are usually diagnosed as bed shortages and are usually something else: discharge timing, decision delays, diagnostic turnaround or weekend variation. This course teaches flow analytically — demand and capacity patterns, the difference between occupancy and flow, discharge planning that starts at admission, criteria-led discharge, the effect of variation on queues, escalation policy, and the metrics that show where a hospital is actually stuck. Written for bed managers, ward leaders and operational managers.

2. Why this program

• Diagnoses flow analytically rather than by intuition.
• Discharge planning from admission.
• Explains queue behaviour and variation.
• Metrics that show where the block really is.

3. Who it is for

Healthcare Manager · Nurse · Physician · Allied Health

4. Program objectives

• Distinguish occupancy from flow and explain why high occupancy blocks
• Analyse demand and capacity patterns across a week
• Apply discharge planning that begins at admission
• Implement criteria-led discharge appropriately
• Explain how variation creates queues and delay
• Interpret the metrics that locate a flow constraint

5. Learning outcomes

• Identify the constraint in a described flow problem
• Interpret demand and capacity data to locate a mismatch
• Apply criteria-led discharge to a described patient
• Evaluate a discharge process for avoidable delay
• Recommend an escalation action appropriate to a described pressure level
• Select the metric that would reveal a stated flow question

6. Curriculum

1. Module 1: Occupancy Is Not Flow

   • Occupancy Is Not Flow

2. Module 2: Demand and Capacity

   • Demand and Capacity

3. Module 3: Discharge From Admission

   • Discharge From Admission

4. Module 4: Queues and Variation

   • Queues and Variation

5. Module 5: Escalation and Metrics

   • Escalation and Metrics

7. Duration and structure

Total study hours: 3 — 2.5h content + 0.5h assessment. Duration is expressed in study hours only.

9. What you receive

This certificate confirms completion of Bed Management and Patient Flow. Duration is expressed in study hours.

10. Delivery format

Self-paced · start any time · any device · lifetime access to the enrolled version.