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Central Distributor SEDD: Description of Data Elements

 
LOS - Length of stay, cleaned
 
Documentation Sections:
General Notes
Uniform Values
State Specific Notes
General Notes
 

Length of stay (LOS) is calculated by subtracting the admission date (ADATE) from the discharge date (DDATE). Same-day stays are therefore coded as 0. Leave days are not subtracted. Before edit checks are performed, LOS and LOS_X have the same value. If LOS is set to inconsistent (.C), the value of LOS_X is retained.

LOS is not equal to the calculated value in the following cases:

  • LOS is set to the supplied length of stay if the length of stay cannot be calculated (ADATE and/or DDATE is missing or invalid). Note: If the supplied length of stay codes same-day stays as 1 or subtracts leave days, then the supplied length of stay is NOT used.
  • LOS is missing (.) if the length of stay cannot be calculated and the supplied length of stay is missing.
  • LOS is invalid (.A) if
    • it is greater than the maximum value allowed during HCUP processing (the maximum allowed in the 1988-1997 data is 32,767; the maximum allowed beginning in the 1998 data is 20 years)
    • - or -
    • the length of stay cannot be calculated and the supplied length of stay is nonnumeric.
  • An invalid calculated LOS is not replaced by the supplied length of stay.
  • If the data source does not supply either admission date (ADATE) and discharge date (DDATE), or length of stay, then beginning in the 1998 data LOS is not present on the HCUP files. In the 1988-1997 data, LOS is retained on the HCUP files and is set to unavailable from source (.B).
  • LOS is inconsistent (.C) if
    • LOS is negative (ELOS03 beginning in the 1998 data and ED011 in the 1988-1997 data),
    • Excessively long (ELOS04 beginning in the 1998 data and ED601 in the 1988-1997 data), or
    • Charges per day are unjustifiably low (ED911) or high (ED921).

Edit checks ED911 and ED921 are only performed on the 1988-1997 data. No charge per day edit checks are performed on the HCUP data beginning in the 1998 data.

 
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Uniform Values
 
VariableDescriptionValueValue Description
LOSLength of stay, cleaned0 - 365 (for HCUP inpatient data), 0-30 (for HCUP outpatient data)Days (Prior to data year 2017, LOS was limited to 0-3 days for outpatient data. In the 1988-1997 inpatient data, LOS can be greater than 365 days)
.Missing
.AInvalid
.BUnavailable from source (coded in 1988-1997 data only)
.CInconsistent: beginning with 1998 data, ELOS03, ELOS04; in 1988-1997 data, ED011, ED601, ED911n, ED921
 
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State Specific Notes

Arizona

The source reports same-day stays as zero days so the supplied length of stay was used to assign LOS when length of stay could not be calculated from dates.

Beginning with 2005, reported length of stay is no longer supplied.



California

LOS and LOS_X are artificially assigned to 0 on all records. California did not provide an admission date, discharge date, or length of stay. During HCUP processing, service date was loaded into the admission date (ADATE) and discharge date (DDATE) so that other variables like age at admission and discharge quarter could be calculated.



Florida

Length of stay was not provided on the source file. However, it was computed based on admission date (ADATE) and discharge date (DDATE) during the HCUP processing.



Hawaii

Starting in 2017, Hawaii supplies reported length of stay.

Prior to 2017, only the calculated length of stay could be used to assign LOS because Hawaii did not supply reported length of stay.



Indiana

Only the calculated length of stay could be used to assign LOS because Indiana codes same day stays with a value of 1.



Kansas

The reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because Kansas coded same-day stays with a value of 1.



Maine

Only the calculated length of stay could be used to assign LOS because Maine did not supply reported length of stay.



Maryland

Prior to July 2001, Maryland did not supply length of stay and reported only the date of service. LOS and LOS_X were therefore set to zero. Beginning in July 2001, Maryland provided the "From Date" and "To Date" resulting in calculation of the length of stay.

Beginning in 2006, LOS was calculated during the HCUP data processing.



Massachusetts

Only the calculated length of stay was used because Massachusetts provided the total number of hours for the stay.



Missouri

Beginning with the 2007 data, Missouri supplied admission and discharge dates for calculating LOS for all discharges. The reported length of stay was only used to assign LOS when dates were unavailable. Prior to 2007, the reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because Kentucky coded same-day stays with a value of 1. The appropriate edit check for consistency of reported and calculated length of stay could not be performed.



Nebraska

The reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because Nebraska coded same-day stays with the value 1.



New York

Beginning with the 2005 New York identifies AIDS/HIV records by ICD-9-CM diagnosis code or DRG:

  • An admitting, principal or any secondary diagnosis of "042", "043", "044", "7958", "27910", "27919", "2793", "1363", "79571", "07951", "07952", "07953", "V017" or "V08".
  • A DRG of 488 through 490 or 700 through 716.


North Carolina

Beginning with the 2007 data, North Carolina supplied admission and discharge dates for calculating LOS for almost all discharges. The reported length of stay was only used to assign LOS when dates were unavailable. Prior to 2007, the reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because North Carolina coded same-day stays with a value of 1.



South Carolina

The reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because South Carolina coded same-day stays with a value of 1.



Utah

The calculated length of stay was used to assign LOS because Utah did not report the length of stay. If either the discharge date or admission date was missing on the source record, then LOS is missing (.).



Vermont

The reported length of stay was not used when LOS could not be calculated because Vermont coded same-day stays with the value 1.



Wisconsin

Prior to 2007, Wisconsin does not supply length of stay. Length of stay is calculated from admission and discharge dates.

Beginning in 2007, we used the supplied length of stay to assign LOS and LOS_X when these fields could not be calculated from dates.


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Internet Citation: HCUP Central Distributor SEDD Description of Data Elements - All States. Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP). October 2024. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, Rockville, MD. www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/db/vars/sedddistnote.jsp?var=los.
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Last modified 10/16/24