Rehabilitation hospital patient characteristics from the Hospital Utilization Project (HUP) system

The Hospital Utilization Project (HUP), in collaboration with rehabilitation associations in California and Pennsylvania, instituted on July 1, 1974, a patient data system for rehabilitation hospitals. This is a report of the first year's aggregate of 5,427 patients from 20 hospitals in six states. Of this total, 4,662 were admitted for a full rehabilitation program, and 765 for short-term. Nearly half of the patients admitted for a full program were 65 years or older; 31% were stroke victims, by far the largest single diagnosis. Eighty percent of full program admissions were accounted for by the following six categories (reported with average lengths of stay): stroke (33.7 days), other brain injury and disease (35.9 days), amputations (30.6 days), fractures (29.6 days), arthritis (25.9 days) and spinal cord injury (59.3 days). In the total sample 74% were discharged to a private residential setting. The accumulation of patient data from a number of hospitals will give medical rehabilitation important information regarding its contribution to health care delivery as well as providing data which can be used for PSRO guidelines and for third-party payers. The HUP system is currently receiving discharge abstracts from 42 hospitals in 14 states.