Goal: To analyze variation in length of stay in acute hospitals by using a large administrative data base based on CMBD.
Subjects and methods: Surgical patients admitted from 93 to 95 in the seven hospital with the largest volume of admissions from the Servicio Vasco de Salud--Osakidetza with a discharge diagnosis of inguinal hernia (IH), benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) and total hip joint replacement (THJR). We used data generated by a Patient Management Categories (PMC) data base. We present median length of stay result adjusted by age, sex, type of admission and Risk Intensity Score (RIS). We employed Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) for the multivariate analysis including the relevant interaction terms.
Result: Adjusted median length of stay went from 2 to 6 days for IH patients, from 7 to 18 for BPH patients, from 5 to 18 for THJR patients; depending upon the different hospital and patient attributable considered confounders. By year, we saw a general decrease on length of stay.
Conclusions: We found important differences by hospital though there is a decrease in length of stay in the last years. The administrative data bases, in spite of presenting validity problems, are a cheap and quick way of analyzing certain indicators to help in care management; given their limitations, cautious interpretation of the results is necessary.