Fall without fracture length of stay

Description
This measure shows the average length of time that a person without fractures spent in hospital after an out-of-hospital fall. This measure is calculated by dividing the total number of bed-days by the number of admissions. Improving the rehabilitation process inside hospital can reduce the time spent in a hospital bed.
Notes about this measure set
Type of fall injury is based on the first event in the stay.
  • Fractured NOF: ICD-10 code S720* to S722* in diagnosis codes 1–30
  • Other fracture: ICD-10 code S*2*, T02* and T12* and excluding fractured neck of femur in diag 1-30
  • Non-fracture: No fracture code recorded in diag 1-30
Calculating stays
Consecutive events that together make a stay are calculated with a similar methodology to the Manatū Hauora system-level measure Acute Hospital Bed Days.
Events are considered part of the same stay if:
  • the NHI was the same
  • the previous event had a transfer end type (DA, DF, DO, DP, DT, DW or ET)
  • the end date of the previous event was before or within 1 day of the next event
  • there was an external cause code of a fall (W00–W19) that occurred either on or before the event start date.
Sub-analysis is available using the following filters:
  • Te Whatu Ora district
  • ethnicity (Māori, Pacific, Asian and Other [including unknown]).
This indicator differs from the falls indicator in the Te Tāhū Hauora Atlas of Healthcare Variation, as it counts all acute/arranged hospital admissions (stays), rather than people with more than one fall only counted once.
Numerator
The number of falls hospital bed-days for people without fractures.
Denominator
The number of falls hospital admissions (stays) for people without fractures.
Denominator detail
Stays included in this measure are those that:
  • started with an acute or arranged event (admission type codes AA, AC, ZA or ZC)
  • started with an event that had an external cause code of a fall (W00–W19) that occurred either on or before the event start date.
Denominator exclusions
Stays excluded from this measure are those that:
  • had an unknown age or gender
  • had an unknown health district, except when aggregated into the national total
  • consisted of only non-case-mix events (EXCLU purchase unit); non-case-mix events are otherwise included as long as a case-mix event is within the stay
  • started with a non-acute event code (ie, excluding falls that clearly occur in hospitals, like those measured in the Te Tāhū Hauora quality and safety markers).
Additionally, total bed-days excludes:
  • bed-days for residential care (health speciality code D10–19, D30-39, D50–59 or D70–79)
  • leave days.