Are medical outliers associated with worse patient outcomes? A retrospective study within a regional NHS hospital using routine data.

After adjusting for other factors, medical outliers are associated with an increased LOS while mortality or readmissions are not worse than patients treated in appropriate specialty wards. This is in line with existing but limited literature that such patients experience worse patient outcomes. Hospitals may need to revisit their policies regarding outlying patients as increased LOS is associated with an increased likelihood of harm events, worse quality of care and increased healthcare costs.