Hospital data definitions

A hospital discharge is defined as the release of a patient who has been admitted to an in-patient hospital unit and has stayed for at least one night. A person is discharged when treatment has been finalized, either to their home or to another healthcare facility, for further treatment or rehabilitation. Hospital stays which end due to individuals leaving against medical advice or by in-hospital deaths are also counted. Same-day discharges are excluded. The data covers all types of hospitals, including general hospitals, mental health hospitals and other specialized hospitals.

A bed-day is counted as each overnight stay of an in-patient in hospitals (>=1 bed day).

Average length of stay (ALOS) refers to the average number of days patients discharged from hospital have spent. ALOS is measured by dividing the total annual number of bed-days by the number of discharges during that same period. Same day discharges and outpatient visits are excluded.

Patients treated reflects the total number of individuals receiving hospital care, in-patients and out-patients. The data covers all types of hospitals, including general hospitals, psychiatric care hospitals and other specialized hospitals.

Diagnostic groups defined by ICD-10. Diagnostic group reflects main diagnoses i.e., the main health conditions for which an individual was treated in hospital.

Data on diagnoses reflect main diagnoses i.e., the main health conditions for which an individual is admitted to hospital. Diagnoses are classified according to the World Health Organization’s (WHO’s) International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD), 10th revision. Data are presented using the International Shortlist for Hospital Morbidity Tabulation (ISHMT), a shortlist which has been adopted by WHO Regional Office for Europe, by OECD and by Eurostat, in addition to NOMESCO.
The ISHMT list comprises 149 groups, thus a relatively long list for a traditional table presentation. Therefore, data are published in an abbreviated list based on the full ISHMT list.