Abstract
The average length of stay is used as an indicator of the efficiency of medical services. More specifically, the result of an attempt to increase the efficiency of medical services is seen as a reduction in the number of days. In this article, the possibility of further shortening of the average length of stay in Japan is discussed, by examining the details of the methods for calculating the average length of stay, especially for acute care, to identify differences in the methods between Japan and Germany.
The results have revealed that the bed types used for the calculation of the average length of stay are quite different between Japan and Germany. In addition, there was a difference in the management of inter-departmental transfer in the comprehensive payment system. In Germany, the average length of stay has been calculated by adding the number of inter-departmental transfers of patients since the introduction of the Diagnosis Related Groups/Prospective Payment System （DRG/PPS）. On the other hand, the Diagnosis Procedure Combination/Per-Diem Payment System （DPC/PDPS） in Japan does not include items relevant to inter-departmental transfers.
In this article, we discussed the situation in Germany only. Therefore, the situation might be unique to Germany and might not apply to other European countries. In Japan, it is necessary to identify the details about the calculation of the average length of stay in other countries and to increase the efficiency of medical services for the exploration of appropriate average length of stay in Japan.
