Last Updated: 2003-06-04 13:00:05 -0400 (Reuters Health)

AMSTERDAM (Reuters Health) - A government report out this week says that hospitals stays in the Netherlands, among the longest in Europe, could be cut significantly through better patient management.

The report, written by Professor A.R. van de Vijsel of the College of Hospital Planning, in conjunction with the Ministry of Health, says that in some cases, hospital stays could be halved through improved coordination with nursing homes and outpatient clinics.

"What this report says is that with good practices, you can really make better use of your doctors and orthopedics resources," van de Vijsel told Reuters Health. "They can be really significant reductions."

The Dutch population overall, like many across Europe, is growing older, and more-efficient management could free up more hospitals beds for the expected increase in patients, according to the report.

It also compares the length of stay in several comparable European, Canadian and Australian hospitals and finds the Dutch hospital stay among the longest.

Dutch stroke patients, for example, stay an average of 20.8 days in hospital, while in Australia the average stay is just 13.5 days.

The Health Ministry has been under pressure to come to grips with the chronic shortage of available hospital beds in the Netherlands, currently estimated to be about three for every 1,000 inhabitants.

The shortage can be acute in some areas, such as intensive care, leading many frustrated Dutch patients to look increasingly at foreign treatment options, such as in neighboring Belgium and Germany.

The study found that the hospital stays of patients who have had strokes or hip fractures could be reduced the most -- by an average 50 percent -- if good practices were employed.