Wesley Medical Center just went mostly private. Via Christi Regional Medical Center is adding more private rooms when feasible (that’s the plan so far with its planned west side hospital). Galichia Heart Hospital is doing it. And now a paper in the Aug. 27 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association is arguing that all hospitals should move toward single, private patient rooms.
Besides the obvious patient satisfaction component, supporters say private patient rooms reduce infections, enhance the privacy of patient information, and promote better sleep and healing.
Say the JAMA authors:
Most modern hospitals have public value statements regarding safety, dignity, privacy, and patient-centered care. A tangible way to show commitment to these values would be to give patients their bed with their own bathroom in a single-patient room.
Yes, it’s more expensive for hospitals, at least at first (One North American analysis found that the cost of a new ward with exclusive single-patient rooms was $182 to $400 per patient, whereas a ward with exclusive double rooms cost $122 to $550 per patient, according to JAMA), but do you think it’s worth it?
Are patients willing to pay the difference in exchange for the value? By the same token, is it cost-effective for mega community hospitals such as Via Christi to convert to all private rooms (something it cannot feasibly do) when it is essentially the safety net hospital that sees a good chunk of this region’s uninsured patients?