Ellis Hospital Accounted for the Lowest Average Length of Stay for a 30-Day Episode of Care with Unplanned Readmissions for Cardiac Valve and Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures in New York between 2013-2016
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By: Jeffrey Maser Mar. 01, 2018
Ellis Hospital in Schenectady had the lowest average length of stay (LOS) among all hospitals in New York for a 30-day episode of care for cardiac valve and other major cardiothoracic procedures at 5.67 days between 2013-2016, according to a Dexur analysis of Medicare inpatient claims data. Mercy Hospital of Buffalo ranked 2nd at 5.71 days and joined Ellis Hospital as the only two hospitals in New York with a 30-day episode of care average LOS under 6 days. NYU Langone's Tisch Hospital and NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center, both located in New York, New York, ranked 3rd and 4th at 6.05 and 6.3 days, respectively. St. Peter's Hospital in Albany ranked 5th at 6.39 days to join the four previously mentioned facilities as the only New York hospitals with a 30-day episode of care average LOS under 7 days.
The average length of stay measure for a 30-day episode of care is made up of the index hospital length of stay plus any additional days spent in the hospital from an unplanned readmission within the first 30 days post-discharge. Unplanned readmissions are defined as hospital stays where the patient was readmitted through the emergency department. This all-encompassing value accounts for the readmission rate along with the days spent in a hospital due to readmissions. It is important to note that patients are not necessarily readmitted to the index hospital for subsequent stays. Hospitals in New York were included in the rankings if they accounted for at least 30 DRG-220 (Cardiac Valve And Other Major Cardiothoracic Procedures Without Cardiac Catheterization With Complication or Comorbidity) discharges between January 2013 - December 2016. Discharges where the patient expired, was transferred, or was discharged against medical advice were excluded from the total discharges.
Along with ranking 1st in the state for lowest average length of stay for a 30-day episode of care for DRG-220, Ellis Hospital also ranked 2nd for lowest average length of stay for just the index hospital stay at 5.56 days. The top ranking hospital was Mercy Hospital of Buffalo with an average LOS of 5.19 days. Although Mercy Hospital of Buffalo ranked 1st for index hospital average LOS, they ranked 2nd to Ellis Hospital in average LOS for a 30-day episode of care; this was in part due to their readmission rate of 12.9%, which ranked 5th highest out of the 20 New York hospitals with at least 11 DRG-220 readmissions during the four year time period. Nationally, the DRG-220 readmission rate was 9.55%, compared to 9.77% for Medicare enrollees from New York alone.
1. Hospital Location, State Market Share of Total Inpatient Discharges in 2016 and DRG-220 Average LOS for 30-Day Episode of Care between 2013-2016 for the Nation, New York Medicare Enrollees and the 10 New York Hospitals with the Lowest DRG-220 Average LOS for 30-Day Episode of Care between 2013-2016
| New York Hospitals with the Lowest Average Length of Stay for a 30-Day Episode of Care for DRG-220 (January 2013 - December 2016) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Average LOS for 30-Day Episode of Care Rank (Lowest to Highest) | Hospital | Hospital City | State Market Share of Total Inpatient Discharges in 2016 (%) | Average LOS for 30-Day Episode of Care (Days) |
| Nation | 7.39 | |||
| New York | 7.87 | |||
| 1 | Ellis Hospital | Schenectady | 0.83 | 5.67 |
| 2 | Mercy Hospital of Buffalo | Buffalo | 0.64 | 5.71 |
| 3 | Tisch Hospital (NYU Langone Health) | New York | 1.60 | 6.05 |
| 4 | NewYork-Presbyterian/Columbia University Medical Center | New York | 1.66 | 6.30 |
| 5 | St. Peter's Hospital | Albany | 1.24 | 6.39 |
| 6 | Long Island Jewish Medical Center | New Hyde Park | 2.51 | 7.00 |
| 7 | Buffalo General Medical Center | Buffalo | 1.05 | 7.82 |
| 8 | The Mount Sinai Hospital | New York | 1.82 | 7.84 |
| 9 | NYU Winthrop Hospital | New York | 1.58 | 7.90 |
| 10 | St. Elizabeth Campus | Utica | 0.66 | 7.91 |
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