The Nation : Shorter Hospital Stays Hit

About 12% of Americans hospitalized last year believe they were sent home too early as a cost-cutting measure and that it may have complicated their medical conditions, a Harris Poll found. The percentage represented a sharp increase over a 1985 poll in which 7% of the previous year’s hospital patients felt they were discharged too soon. Among Medicaid patients, the percentage of patients who believed they were discharged too quickly rose from 4% to 27% in one year. A total of 966 people were polled in the August survey by Louis Harris & Associates. Of the 12% who reported their hospitalization was too short, 42% said they became worse, and 17% said they were still ill.