LOS

See: Length of stay under Indicator Definitions.

For our purposes, LOS (length of stay) is the combined number of days a patient spent on units on which we collect data. It is not the amount of time spent in the hospital as we don't have access to hospital admit/discharge data. Ward LOS and ICU LOS are included in our monthly, quarterly and annual reports.

• LOS = Discharge Date/Time – Admit Date/Time.

For example:

• Admit Date/Time: 20 May 2008 11:30
• Discharge Date/Time: 21 May 2008 17:45
• LOS = 1.260 (3 decimal digit accuracy is used for individual patients, 1 digit for averages)

Note: The number of days for TISS (ICU) and ITISS (Medicine) can be different than the LOS because the 2 hour rule applies.

Note: As of October 24, 2011 all patients that arrive in the ICU in the process of resuscitation should be included in the database, even if they are there for a short lenght of time and subsequently pass away. This has been recommended by the ICU Database Task Group and approved by Dr. Dan Roberts from the Steering Committee. Do the best you can to formulate an apache score either with vital signs & labs during the resuscitation, if available, or the vital signs & labs just before the arrest if available. --LKolesar 08:41, 25 October 2011 (CDT