Does the NAIP classification predict length of stay in rehabilitation,geriatrics and palliative care?

Abstract

The Australian National Non-Acute Inpatient Project (NAIP) reported its findingson casemix in rehabilitation and slow stream geriatric medicine in October 1992.It proposed a per diem NAIP classification of 19 classes using six major clinicalgroups and the resource utilisation groups version three activities of daily living index(RUG III ADL index). Weightings were determined based on time spent by clinicalstaff in treating these patients.A quality management study was undertaken in the rehabilitation, geriatrics andpalliative care wards of the Illawarra Area Health Service for three months in 1993,analysing length of stay and cost against the predictive weights of the NAIP classification.The study concluded that this classification was an acceptable predictor of per diem costsof care in these wards of the Illawarra but was not a good predictor of length of stay.