| INDICATOR: | LENGTH OF STAY PER MEDICINE WARD ADMISSION | 
| SIGNIFICANCE: | Length of stay (LOS) is influenced by many factors, but safe and effective care should result in shorter length of stay. | 
| DEFINITIONS: | Average LOS reported for each ward in the region. | 
| SPECIFICATION: |  | 
| Inclusion Criteria: | All ward admissions in the Medicine Database MedTMS.  Admissions from Emergency Department are considered a new ward admission when patient is admitted to the service.  If transfers occur across wards or another service  within the same hospital,  this will be reported as 3 individual length of stays in the ward and not one cumulative LOS. | 
| Exclusion Criteria: | None | 
| Required Variables  (Definition of Terms/) : | Ward admit date/time – the date and time the patient is admitted to a ward. | 
| Ward discharge date/time – the date and time the patient was discharge to a ward. | 
| Calculation Procedure: | LOS per patient = Ward discharge date/time – Ward admit date/time (expressed in days). | 
| Average LOS Per Ward = average LOS from admissions to a ward  where discharge date is between the beginning and the ending of the reporting time. | 
| WHERE & WHEN  REPORTED: | Quarterly report and Annual report in Fiscal Year of Activity Summary. | 
| PRESCRIBED BY: | Dr. Dan Roberts | 
| TARGET: | None yet. | 
| COMMENT: |  |