Table 1.
Descriptive statistics of all DAD, HSMR and palliative care records/cases
| DAD records |
HSMR cases |
Palliative care records |
|||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiscal year | 2006–2007 | 2009–2010 | 2012–2013 | 2006–2007 | 2009–2010 | 2012–2013 | 2006–2007 | 2009–2010 | 2012–2013 |
| Cases, N | 2 388 258 | 2 403 517 | 2 480 749 | 649 150 | 667 216 | 715 088 | 18 603 | 26 797 | 27 870 |
| Mean age, years | 46.0 | 46.1 | 47.5 | 67.2 | 67.2 | 68.3 | 70.4 | 72.0 | 73.4 |
| Mean LOS, days | 6.5 | 6.7 | 6.7 | 10.1 | 10.1 | 9.8 | 15.5 | 15.6 | 14.7 |
| Crude mortality, % | 3.52 | 3.52 | 3.45 | 8.7 | 7.8 | 7.3 | 67.1 | 68.5 | 69.9 |
| Crude PC coding as MRDx, % | 0.78 | 1.11 | 1.12 | n/a | n/a | n/a | 100 | 100 | 100 |
| PC cases among in-hospital deaths, % | 14.7 | 21.7 | 22.8 | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a | n/a |
| Mean RIW | 1.4 | 1.4 | 1.4 | 2.0 | 2.0 | 2.1 | 2.3 | 2.5 | 2.3 |
| ALC, total days | – | – | – | – | – | – | 31 376 | 54 751 | 57 749 |
| PC code as a comorbidity (type 1, W, X, Y), % | 0.80 | 1.90 | 2.31 | – | – | – | – | – | – |
| PC as the only diagnosis (per 10 000 records) | 201 | 46 | 29 | NA | NA | NA | 201 | 46 | 29 |
| PC as post-admission comorbidity (per 10 000 records) | 52 | 36 | 6 | NA | NA | NA | 52 | 36 | 6 |
ALC, alternate level of care; DAD, Discharge Abstract Database; HSMR, hospital standardised mortality ratio; LOS, length of stay; MRDx, most responsible diagnosis; NA, not applicable; PC, palliative care; RIW, resource intensity weight.