High Severity of Illness Patients in a Small Metropolitan Area

This study evaluated the impact of high severity of illness patients on hospital utilization in the metropolitan area of Syracuse, New York between 2012 and 2015. It employed the All Patients Refined Severity of Illness system developed by 3M™ Health Information Systems. These patients are important for the management and practice of nursing in acute hospitals. The study demonstrated that patients at extreme and major severity of illness generated 60 - 70 percent of the inpatient days for adult medicine and adult surgery in the combined Syracuse hospitals. Mean lengths of stay for patients at extreme severity of illness were two to four times the stays for these services. Inpatient readmission rates for extreme severity of illness patients were more than double the rates for these services. The study data also indicated that the impact of patients at high severity of illness was increasing over time. The study also demonstrated that recent efforts of the Syracuse hospitals have produced reductions in the numbers of excess patient days for adult medicine and surgery, but limited reductions in the mean lengths of stay for these patients. The data suggested that meeting the needs of these patients is especially challenging in a small metropolitan area without an additional level of care within the continuum.