Carolinas Medical Center Had the Highest Percentage of Length of Stay Outliers for Pulmonology Medicare Inpatients

Get Dexur’s Personalized Hospital Specific Presentation on Quality, Safety, Compliance & Education

North Carolina hospital Carolinas Medical Center led the state with the state’s highest percentage of LOS outlier discharges and greatest average length of stay for pulmonology Medicare inpatients. Carolinas Medical Center exceeded the 2nd ranked hospital for percentage of LOS outlier discharges, Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center, by over 10%, and the 2nd ranked hospital for average LOS, Duke Regional Hospital by nearly 3 days. The proportion of LOS outlier discharges may reflect the efficiency of a hospital in their diagnosis and treatment of patients. Comparing the average LOS between these hospitals also provides insight into what the mean is and therefore what defines an outlier.

Overall as a state, North Carolina was below the national average in terms of percentage of LOS outlier pulmonology Medicare discharges and average days hospitalized by 1.71% and 0.31 days, respectively. This makes Carolinas Medical Center’s particularly high metrics even more noteworthy; the hospital’s percentage of LOS outlier discharges was 17.16% higher than the national average and 18.87% above the North Carolina average. The average length of stay at Carolinas Medical Center was higher than the nation and state by 6.28 days and 6.59 days, respectively. 28.63% of Carolinas Medical Center pulmonology Medicare inpatient discharges were considered LOS outliers, 10.29% higher than Novant Forsyth Medical Center. The average length of stay was 11.77 days, which was 2.91 days greater than the average at Duke Regional Hospital.

Carolinas Medical Center is a large non-profit hospital based out of Charlotte, NC. Their pulmonary care is equipped for comprehensive lung cancer care and pulmonary rehabilitation. Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center’s respiratory services in Winston-Salem, NC treats patients with varying pulmonary conditions including asthma, COPD, inflammatory lung disease, and pulmonary artery blockage. Duke Regional Hospital is located in Durham, NC; it has an extensive pulmonary rehabilitation program and transplant clinic.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

	% of LOS Outlier Discharges (NC Rank)	Avg. LOS (NC Rank)	Total Discharges
National	11.47%	5.49	1,279,747
NC	9.76%	5.18	41,913
Carolinas Medical Center	28.63% (1)	11.77 (1)	454
Novant Health Forsyth Medical Center	18.34% (2)	7.58 (3)	1,412
Duke Regional Hospital	16.72% (3)	8.86 (2)	610

Saparja Nag

Saparja is a healthcare journalist with a particular interest in how medicine can and should affect health policy. She has extensive experience as a health educator and research scientist in biochemistry. She also enjoys running, cooking elaborate meals, and then eating elaborate meals. Saparja received a Bachelors of Arts in Biochemistry from Vassar College.