23-hour stay
23-hour stay
A period of hospitalisation of < 1 day in duration.Pros
23-hour stays allow the patient management team to observe a patient with signs of a condition (e.g., stroke, AMI, haemorrhage) that would require hospitalisation for a prolonged period of time; because the patient is admitted for < one day, all the services are billed at higher rates than would be allowed by the DRGs, were the patient hospitalised.
Cons
Clockwatching may occur if lab or other results are delayed; patients may need to be discharged then readmitted under another DRG code.