Batch 02 · ICU turnover
Weekend discharge throughput collapse
-
System failure identification
Discharges fall sharply on Saturday and Sunday while admissions continue. Occupancy climbs across the weekend and the hospital spends Monday recovering from a shortfall that recurs every week. Monday inherits a backlog nobody created that day.
-
Data pipeline diagnostics
Throughput is reported as a weekly total, which nets the weekend deficit against the weekday surplus. The cycle is arithmetically invisible in the figure used to judge it. Weekly aggregation is chosen for reporting convenience, not for operational relevance.
-
Predictive computational model
Model discharges per day against admissions per day and track the running imbalance. The metric is a cumulative deficit rather than a rate, because the harm is accumulation across consecutive days. A cumulative measure captures compounding that a daily rate discards.
-
Workflow integration
Use the projected Monday deficit to justify weekend discharge rounds and pharmacy cover. The figure is an argument for a staffing decision, so it belongs in the business case, not on a live screen. The audience is whoever approves weekend cover, not whoever works it.