AHIMA's Long-Term Care Health Information Practice & Documentation Guidelines

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Minimum Statistical Reporting

 

Contents

Total Admissions Total Discharges Average Daily Census Total Census Days Length of Stay Percentage of Occupancy Electronic Patient Records (On Hold)

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 Each facility should determine their need for statistical information and the frequency in reporting. The health care data collected and reported can be very valuable in evaluating, monitoring and planning for facility operation and management.

 

This section outlines statistical data commonly collected by long term care facilities – the calculation and reporting of the statistical data may be completed by various staff in the LTC facility. Typically the information is collected and reported to administration on a monthly basis. The data should also be compiled throughout the year providing year-to-date compilation.

 

Statistical data should be compiled routinely and reported in a manner that allows review and analysis of the information over time (i.e. the current month and year-to-date). The use of spread sheets can be very helpful in compiling, reporting, and graphically depicting statistical data. The statistical data can be helpful to administration, the facility quality assurance/quality improvement committee, and corporate office staff.

 

The following statistical formulas are shown for a monthly reporting period.

 

Total Admissions

 

Each month the total number of new admissions or readmission is reported. This number should not reflect residents who were out on a bed hold or temporary leave of absence.

 

Total Discharges

 

Each month the total number of discharges is reported excluding residents who were transferred/discharge on bed hold or left for a temporary leave of absence.

 

Average Daily Census

 

To calculate the average daily in-house census in a month, add the daily census for each day of the calendar month and divide the total by the number of days in a month. Each census day begins at 12:00am and ends at 11:59 p.m. Because Medicare uses the midnight census hour as a cut-off for determining a Medicare day, this standard is generally used by the industry.

 

• Formula: Sum of the Daily Census for each day of the month
• Total number of days in the month
• This formula can be adopted for any period of time. For example, to calculate the average daily in-house census for a year, add the daily in-house census for each day of the year and divide by the number of days in the year.
• When a resident is both admitted and discharged in one census day, they are usually counted in the daily census.

Total Census Days

The sum of the daily census for a given period for each day in the month.

Length of Stay

To calculate the length of stay for a resident admission, total the number of days the resident has been in the facility. Count the day of admission but not the day of discharge. Typically, bed hold days or temporary leaves are not subtracted from the total length of stay for a resident.

• Average Length of Stay: The average length of stay is calculated by adding the total length of stay for each discharged resident in the month and dividing by the number of discharge residents in a month. The average length of stay can be calculated for the entire facility or by specialty unit/program. When there are short-term stay or dementia units, calculating a separate average length of stay can be helpful in accurately reporting the average length of stay for that specific population.
• Formula:
• Total length of stay for discharges (for facility or for a unit) in a one month period
• Number of discharges in the month
• Discharge Days or Length of Stay: The discharge days also known as the length of stay is the total number of calendar days a resident is in the facility from admission to discharge. When calculating the length of stay, count the day of admission but not the day of discharge. Days when the resident is not in the facility due to a temporary leave of absence or bed hold are not subtracted from the length of stay. If a resident is admitted and discharged on the same day, one discharge day is assigned.
• Total Length of Stay: The total length of stay is the sum of the length of stay/discharge days for a given population and discharged during a specified period. Usually the total length of stay is calculated for the entire facility, but could also be calculated by unit particularly when there are short-term or dementia units.

Percentage of Occupancy

The percentage of occupancy is calculated by adding the daily census for each day of the month and dividing by the total bed count days. The total bed count is the number of beds available multiplied by the number of days in the month.

Electronic Patient Records (On Hold)

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