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

The Australian National Non-Acute Inpatient Project (NAIP) reported its findings on casemix in rehabilitation and slow stream geriatric medicine in October 1992. It proposed a per diem NAIP classification of 19 classes using six major clinical groups and the resource utilisation groups version three activities of daily living index (RUG III ADL index). Weightings were determined based on time spent by clinical staff in treating these patients. A quality management study was undertaken in the rehabilitation, geriatrics, and palliative 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 costs of care in these wards of the Illawarra but was not a good predictor of length of stay.