1. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. Chapter 6 Length of Stay/Discharge Days

2. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 2 Hospital Utilization Length of stay and discharge days –Manage utilization of services Discharge days –Analyze and compare groups of patients by disease, treatment, age, procedures, provider

3. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 3 Terms Discharge –Termination of hospitalization is written –Death is a discharge Against medical advice (AMA) –Patient leaves the hospital without a written order or approval to leave

4. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 4 Terms Discharge disposition and leave of absence –Inpatient can be discharged home, to another facility, to an outpatient setting, or has died –Outpatient is discharged home, to another outpatient setting, or has died

5. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 5 Terms Leave of absence patient is not present at census-taking hour between admission and discharge –Is still considered an inpatient

6. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 6 Length of Stay Calculated for each patient upon discharge Total number of days the patient was hospitalized and received services –Calculate by subtracting the date of admission from the date of discharge –Compiled at the time of discharge or death

7. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 7 Length of Stay LOS –Number of calendar days from admission to discharge for each individual inpatient Synonymous terms include: –Days of service –Duration of hospitalization –Discharge days (DD)

8. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 8 Calculating LOS Count each day of an inpatient stay except the day of discharge –Example: –LOS for a patient admitted on July 15 and discharged July 18: Count July 15, 16, 17, but not July 18 = 3

9. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 9 Calculating Short LOS Admitted and discharged the same day: –Patient received 1 day of services –LOS = 1 Admitted one day and discharged the next day: –Patient received 1 day of services – LOS = 1

10. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 10 Calculating Long LOS Count each day of an inpatient stay except the day of discharge –Long length of stays can include many months –Remember number of days in a month to calculate long LOS

11. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 11 Calculating Long LOS Example: –Admitted January 1, discharged Feb 28. Jan = 31 + Feb = 28 – day of discharge –LOS = 58 days

12. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 12 Total Length of Stay Sum of the days of stay of all inpatients, or a group of patients –Discharged during a specified period of time such as a date, week, month, or year Synonymous term –Discharge days

13. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 13 Average Length of Stay Average Length of Stay (ALOS) –Average length of hospitalization of a group of inpatients discharged during a period of time such as a date, week, month, or year Most common use of discharge days is in determining the average length of stay

14. © 2008 Delmar Cengage Learning. 14 Average LOS Compute adults and children separate from newborn –Formula for adults and children: Total LOS (discharge days)/total discharges Formula for newborn: –Total NB length of stay (discharge days)/total newborn discharges