INDICATORS

Calculation: Eurostat:
a) Average length of stay for all hospitals is computed by dividing the total number of
hospital days (or bed-days or in-patient days) in all hospitals from the date of admission in
an in-patient institution (date of discharge minus date of admission) by the total number
of discharges (including deaths) in all hospitals during the given year. Calculated by the
categories of the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT).
Hospital days and and discharges for inpatients with principal diagnoses not falling into the
ISHMT group of diagnoses are excluded. Same day cases are also exluded. ALOS should
preferably be provided to the accuracy of hundreds, i.e. 0.01.
b) Average length of stay for acute care hospitals is computed by dividing the total number
of hospital days (or bed-days or in-patient days) in acute care hospitals from the date of
admission in an in-patient institution (date of discharge minus date of admission) by the
total number of discharges (including deaths) in acute care hospitals during the given year.
Calculated by the categories of the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation
(ISHMT). Hospital daysand and discharges for inpatients with principal diagnoses not
falling into the ISHMT group of diagnoses are excluded. Same day cases are also exluded.
ALOS should preferably be provided to the accuracy of hundreds, i.e. 0.01.
Notes: Eurostat and OECD, both institutions, are collecting the data from national sources
with a common questionnaire (CARE, non-expenditure, which includes a common MDS
on hospitals).
OECD: average length of stay (ALOS) is calculated by dividing the number of days stayed
(from the date of admission in an in-patient institution) by the number of discharges
(including deaths).
WHO: average length of stay is calculated as total number of occupied hospital bed-days
divided by the total number of admissions or discharges. Length of stay (LOS) of one patient
= date of discharge – date of admission. If these are the same dates, then LOS is set to one
day. ALOS should preferably be provided to the accuracy of hundreds, i.e. 0.01.
71. GENERAL PRACTITIONER (GP) UTILISATION
Definition: Mean number of visits to general practitioner per capita per year. General
practitioner (GP) is a physician (medical doctor) who does not limit his/her practice to
certain disease categories and assumes the responsibility for the provision of continuing and
comprehensive medical care or referring to another health care professional. However, in
some countries, GP is treated as a specialisation..
Calculation:
1) Average number of contacts with a general practitioner (self-reports) per capita per year,
derived from EHIS questions on GP visits, HC.11: During the past four weeks ending
yesterday, that is since (date), how many times did you consult a GP (general practitioner) or
family doctor on your own behalf? (0, 1, 2 etc).
2) Eurostat: the average number of patient contacts to GP (self reports from survey: the
Eurostat European Community Household Panel, ECHP) within a calendar year.
Notes: EHIS recall period of 4 weeks is not optimal for calculating number of visits per year.
The introduction to EHIS questions (HC.10 and) HC.11 is: “The next set of questions is
about consultations with your general practitioner or family doctor. Please include visits to
your doctor’s practice as well as home visits and consultations by telephone.”
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