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Psych Bed Locator Trend Data (Prior to August 2023)

• Average Available Beds Per Day represents the average number of beds reported by facilities on the WHA Information Center Psychiatric Bed Locator as Potentially Available for an Admission.  A Bed Potentially Available for an Admission means a bed that is set up and staffed, but is unoccupied or not currently reserved at the time of update.  Although a bed may be listed as potentially available, the bed may not be appropriate for all admissions as determined by the unit.  Beds Potentially Available for an Admission are not guaranteed beds.  In all cases, users of the Psychiatric Bed Locator Tool must contact the unit to discuss a potential admission.
• Estimated Bed Vacancy Rate Per Day represents an estimate of the percentage of Beds Potentially Available for an Admission divided by an estimate of the number of beds setup and staffed for the selected Bed Type.  For example, a 5.0% Bed Vacancy Rate of Inpatient Facility Beds – Adult, would indicate that only 5% of the total Inpatient Facility Beds – Adult of the participating facilities in the selected region are available for a potential admission; and conversely 95% of such beds are currently occupied.  To calculate the estimate, this measure utilizes the participating facilities’ psychiatric beds “set up and staffed” reported by the hospital pursuant to Chapter 153 in the most recent Guide to Wisconsin Hospitals.  Thus the beds “set up and staffed” denominator used in this estimate calculation does not reflect fluctuations in beds “set up and staffed” that occur during the year due to temporary staffing limitations, nor does the estimate reflect changes in beds set up and staffed in previous years. 
• Various studies and reports indicate that sustained psychiatric bed vacancy rates of less than 15 percent would be expected to result in care bottlenecks and other negative impacts.
• Select daily (D), weekly (W), monthly (M), quarterly (Q), or yearly (Y) Data Points to show on the graph the average available bed per day or estimated bed vacancy rate per day during that selected time frame.  For example, if you select “D” as your data point, the graph will show a data point for each day of the average available beds per day, while if you select “Y” as your data point, the graph will show a single data point for each year of the average available beds per day during that year. 
• DHS Regions information can be found here:  https://dhs.wisconsin.gov/aboutdhs/regions.htm.