Statewide Transfer Coordination and Patient Transfer Rates Among Hospitals During Occupancy Stress
In this cohort study of 8 US states, pandemic initiation of a SMOCC was associated with an immediate increase in transfer rates between hospitals of approximately 35% after establishment and, after a potential lag, appeared to meet an increasing demand for transferring patients during surges. These results suggest that activating SMOCCs during large-scale public health emergencies might improve access to care and mitigate transfer gridlocks, but their utility during routine times warrants study.
Authors
- Brittany Badesch
- Sarah Warner (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4998-9257)
- Lisa Villarroel
- Guoqing Diao (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7304-9591)
- Sadia Sarzynski
- Steven H. Mitchell (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9779-2635)
- Alex Mancera (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0007-6152-8350)
- Brian J. Franklin (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8649-4149)
- Sameer S. Kadri (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4420-9004)
- Maniraj Neupane (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0947-489X)
- Benjamin Fisher (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6966-5201)
- Joel S. Weissman (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4990-6263)
- Bruce Swihart (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4216-9942)
- Eric Goralnick (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1609-7973)
- R. Amirahmadi (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1913-4335)
- Parneet Kaur
- Mary Richert
- John L. Hick
Institutions
- Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
- Arizona Department of Health Services (US)
- University of Minnesota (US)
- Harvard University (US)
- George Washington University (US)
- University of Washington (US)
- University of Utah (US)
- Bryan Health (US)
- The Coordinating Center (US)
- National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (US)
- Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (US)
- National Institutes of Health Clinical Center (US)
- Stanford University (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- JAMA Network Open
- Published
- 2025-12-01
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2025.46002
- Primary Topic
- Trauma and Emergency Care Studies
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Institutes of Health
- Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
- Advanced Research Projects Agency