Average length of stay

The average number of days a patient spends admitted.

Falling length of stay is usually a positive sign, indicating better clinical protocols and higher throughput on the same bed base, and it raises revenue per bed per day even as revenue per admission falls.

It interacts with occupancy in a way that can confuse. Shorter stays reduce occupancy for the same number of admissions, so a hospital can improve operationally and appear to weaken on one measure.

Read admissions, stay length and occupancy together.