Long-term care patients in acute care beds: a community-based analysis.

This paper describes an analysis of hospital utilization by alternate care patients, those who receive long-term care in hospital beds because postdischarge services are not available. During a 3-year period, the number of hospital beds occupied by these patients in Syracuse, New York reached 184, or 14% of the area's medical-surgical capacity. These patients were heterogeneous with respect to disposition, age, functional ability, and payor status. For this reason, the control of hospital alternate care should involve the management of admissions to nursing homes, home care, and elderly housing in a focused manner.