openbed

Open bed is a term used in hospital operations to describe a bed that is available for a patient. It serves as a key indicator in patient flow and capacity planning, helping facilities gauge how readily they can admit new patients.

An open bed is considered available when it is physically ready for use: the room is clean, linens are stocked, equipment is functioning, and the bed is not reserved for a specific patient or isolation status. However, open status can be temporarily restricted by infection control requirements, equipment needs, or staffing considerations.

Open beds are central to admissions and discharge workflows. Bed status is monitored by bed management staff and unit teams to balance demand and capacity. Common metrics include overall occupancy rate, bed turnover time (the interval from discharge to the bed being ready for the next patient), time to admit after discharge, and the duration a bed remains ready but unoccupied.

Challenges in maintaining open beds include fluctuating demand, the mix of elective and emergency admissions, patient acuity, and discharge delays. Strategies to improve bed availability focus on proactive discharge planning, early patient mobilization, standardized bed readiness checks, flexible staffing, and the use of observation units or alternative care sites to expand capacity.

In information technology and healthcare operations, openbed may refer to open-source bed management software, dashboards, or project names used by hospitals to track bed availability. Because there is no universal standard, implementations vary in data fields, workflows, and integration with electronic health records.

See also: patient flow, hospital capacity, bed occupancy rate, discharge planning.