The inpatient census at midnight is 67. Two patients were admitted in the morning; I died two hours later; the second patient was transferred to…

An inpatient service day is a unit of measure denoting the services received by one inpatient during one 24-hour period. The total inpatient service days for a given day are calculated by taking the number of inpatients present at the official census-taking time (typically midnight) and adding the number of patients who were both admitted and discharged on that same day (A&Ds).

In this scenario:

Inpatients at midnight census: 67 (counts as 67 service days)

Patient admitted and died same day: 1 (counts as 1 service day)

Patient admitted and transferred same day: 1 (counts as 1 service day)

Total Inpatient Service Days = 67 + 1 + 1 = 69.

A. 65: This figure incorrectly subtracts the two patients who were admitted and discharged from the midnight census.

B. 67: This figure only includes the patients from the midnight census and fails to account for the two patients admitted and discharged on the same day.

C. 68: This figure incorrectly includes only one of the two patients who were admitted and discharged on the same day.

1. Sayles

N. B.

& Gordon

P. A. (Eds.). (2021). Health Information Management: Concepts

Principles

and Practice (6th ed.). AHIMA Press. In Chapter 10

"Healthcare Data and Statistics

" the text explains that the total number of inpatient service days for a day is the daily inpatient census plus any patients admitted and discharged on the same day.

2. Abdelhak

M.

Hanken

M. A.

& Cronin

C. (Eds.). (2016). Abdelhak's Health Information: Management of a Strategic Resource (5th ed.). Elsevier. Chapter 13

"Healthcare Statistics and Research

" defines an inpatient service day and clarifies that patients admitted and discharged on the same day are counted as one day of service in the calculation of total inpatient service days (p. 334).

3. Johns

M. L. (2015). Health Information Management Technology: An Applied Approach (4th ed.). AHIMA Press. Chapter 5

"Healthcare Statistics

" details the formula for calculating inpatient service days

explicitly stating to add same-day admissions and discharges (A/C or A&D) to the daily inpatient census count.