A hospitalist-run short-stay unit: features that predict length-of-stay and eventual admission to traditional inpatient services.

Background: Short-stay units (SSUs) provide an alternative to traditional inpatient services for patients with short anticipated hospital stays. Yet little is known about which patient types predict SSU success.

Objective: To describe patients admitted to our hospitalist-run SSU and explore predictors of length-of-stay (LOS) and eventual admission to traditional inpatient services.