ALC-days-expressed-percentage-inpatient-days-same-period-EN

INDICATOR NAME

Name

Alternate level of care (ALC) days expressed as a percentage of all inpatient days in the same period

Alternate Name

Alternate level of care (ALC) days expressed as a percentage of all inpatient days in the same period

INDICATOR DESCRIPTION

Description

Percentage of inpatient days where a physician (or designated other) has indicated that a patient occupying an acute care hospital bed has finished the acute care phase of his/her treatment. This indicator can be stratified by characteristics such as age or discharge destination (see Comments section for details).

HQO Reporting tool/product

Ontario Health Teams: Quality

Dimension

Efficient

Type

Process

DEFINITION AND SOURCE INFORMATION

Unit of Measurement

Percentage

Calculation Methods

ALC days are those days where a physician (or designated other) has indicated that a patient occupying an acute care hospital bed does not require the intensity of resources/services provided in acute care. It includes discharges from acute care hospitals and excludes newborns and still births.

(Total number of inpatient days designated as ALC in a given period of time ÷ Total number of inpatient days in a given time period) multiply by 100.

Numerator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Total number of inpatient days designated as ALC in the reporting period.
Calculation Steps:
1. Select the DAD data field name: ALC length of stay.
2. Calculate (sum) the total number of inpatient days designated as ALC in a given time period.

Denominator (short description i.e. not inclusions/exclusions)

Total number of inpatient days in the reporting period.
Calculation Steps:
1. Select the DAD field name: Total length of stay.
2. Calculate (sum) the total number of inpatient days in a given time period.

Adjustment (risk, age/sex standardization)- generalized

Data Source

Discharge Abstract Database (DAD), OHTAM (Ontario Health Teams Attribution Model), Registered Persons Database (RPDB)

Data provided to HQO by

Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES)

Reported Levels of comparability /stratifications (defined)

Other

OTHER RELEVANT INFORMATION

Caveats and Limitations

Specific limitations The ALC days included are based on hospital discharge information, and as such the measure does not include patients occupying ALC beds who have not been discharged.

Comments Summary

Additional information regarding the calculation, interpretation, data source, etc. The ALC indicator is often stratified by variables such as age or discharge destination. Discharge destinations are based on the ‘transfer to’ institution type. Approximately 12-14% of ALC separations have missing ‘transfer to’ codes, which indicates that either these patients were not transferred for further care or the transfer information was not available. In 2006/07, reporting of activity at adult designated mental health units moved from the DAD to the Ontario Mental Health Reporting System (OMHRS). Open ALC Days are calculated by Cancer Care Ontario. For more information on open ALC days, please contact RIS@ontario.ca. This indicator is selected as a Collaborative Quality Improvement Plan indicator (cQIP) in 2022/23. Indicator is reported at OHT level with reporting period of April 2020 – March 2021.