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An acute care hospital has found that having geriatric nurse specialists take charge of discharge planning for stroke patients reduces length of stay from 5

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An acute care hospital has found that having geriatric nurse specialists take charge of discharge planning for stroke patients reduces length of stay from 5.4 days to 5.2 days. On average the geriatric nurse specialist (who earns $27 per hour including fringes) spends 3.3 hours on discharge planning per patient. Supply and telephone costs are less than $10 per discharge plan. Your accounting staff tell you the average cost per day is $860 and the incremental cost per day is about $340. Is this a financially attractive innovation? Whether it is or not, what alternatives should the hospital consider?