The Hidden Cost of Waiting Patients in Hospitals

Hospitals across Germany are facing a growing crises: severe shortage of nursing staff. Yet while public debate focuses on funding, minimum staffing, and recruitment efforts, one of the most impactful solutions is often overlooked — reducing unnecessary patient waiting times within the hospital.

In this whitepaper, Dr. Dirk Ralfs exposes a powerful truth: many patients remain hospitalized not for medical reasons, but because of internal delays in doctor’s decision, diagnostics, therapy and discharge planning. These avoidable waiting days tie up tens of thousands of urgently needed nursing positions — hidden costs with massive implications for hospital efficiency, care quality, and workforce sustainability.

Drawing on data, real-world examples, and operational insights from German and Dutch hospitals, this paper reveals how strategic patient flow management can unlock resources, improve care, and ease the burden on clinical teams — all without hiring new staff, just based on relieving the hospital organization consequently from waiting patients.

Read the whitepaper (language: German) to discover why shorter stays mean stronger care — and how hospitals can break free from the cycle of delay.