Case 7-1. Inpatient Service Days

As a health information management (HIM) manager at Dover Regional Medical Center you oversee the statistical reporting. You are in the process of cross training a back-up HI clerk II. You are guiding her in calculating the inpatient service days and want to clarify the difference between inpatient service days and total inpatient service days from the statistic reported of total length of stay (aka, total discharge days) for the hospital and for the coronary care unit (CCU).

Part 1: Hospital census for September 1

The hospital daily census report for September 1 at 12:01 a.m. shows the inpatient census at midnight was 67. Eight patients were admitted, and three patients were discharged on September 1. One of the eight patients that had been admitted subsequently died the same day of admission (September 1).

Calculate the following showing your work:

Calculate the total inpatient service days for the hospital for September 1.

In your own words, compare and contrast total inpatient service days from total length of stay (LOS).

Identify why a hospital manager would need to know or use each statistic of total inpatient service days and total LOS. Give an example when inpatient service days would be beneficial and total LOS would benefit a healthcare manager.

Requirements: