Days
of care is defined similarly in different data systems:
American Hospital Association Days, hospital days, or inpatient days are the number of adult
and pediatric days of care rendered during the entire reporting period.
Days of care for newborns are excluded.
National Health Interview Survey
(NHIS) Hospital days during the year refer
to the total number of hospital days occurring in the 12-month period
before the interview week. A hospital day is a night spent in the
hospital for persons admitted as inpatients.
Starting
in 1997hospitalization data from NHIS are for
all inpatient stays,whereas estimates for priorexcluded hospitalizations for deliveries and
newborns.
National
Hospital Discharge Survey Days of care refers to the total number of patient days
accumulated by patients at the time of discharge from non-Federal
short-stay hospitals during a reporting period. All days from and
including the date of admission but not including the date of discharge
are counted.