Hospital Bed Capacity Down

WASHINGTON, DC-The District of Columbia Hospital Association recently issued a report which showed the bed capacity in Washington, DC, hospitals decreased more than 22% from 1995 to 1999.

EYT, formerly Ernst and Young Technologies, has launched a Critical Care Tracking (CCT) system to handle the increasing national problem of bed capacity. The system improves the communication of bed and ER availability, enabling the immediate, web-based exchange of information among hospitals and public safety organizations about the status of a hospital's emergency room and related critical care department.

EYT plans to expand the system through the Washington/Baltimore area first, eventually spanning out nationally.

The need for a system to facilitate the instant exchange of bed-status information among hospitals and public safety dispatch centers is evident. At present, hospitals and free-standing emergency facilities struggle to meet the growing need for emergency services.