LOS

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 decmimal 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.