An Analysis of the Length of Stay at the Hospital for Cataract Patients in Japan

Abstract

In this paper, the length of stay at the hospital was analyzed using the data from patients hospitalized for cataract ((IR-DRG(International Redefined Diagnosis Related Groups) 2041) and had lens operation performed. The discrete type proportional hazard model was used in the analysis. The factors which might affect the length of stay were analyzed. We found that the child dummy, place to go back to after hospitalization and types of operations were important factors affecting the length of stay. There were surprisingly big differences in the lengths of stay by hospitals even after considering the characteristics of the patients. The factors, which might affect the lengths of stay by hospitals, were also analyzed. The findings were i) higher profit rates made the lengths of stay longer and ii) the lengths of stay were longer in the cold region (Hokaido and Tohoku region) than in other regions.