Relative stay indexes (RSIs) summarise the length of stay for admitted patients, with adjustments for casemix (the types of patients treated and the types of treatments provided). They are regarded as indicators of the efficiency of hospitals.
An RSI greater than 1.0 indicates that an average patient's length of stay is higher than expected, given the casemix for the separations being considered. An RSI of less than 1.0 indicates that the length of stay was less than expected.
In 2010–11, there were relatively shorter lengths of stay for medical separations (including specialist mental health) in public hospitals (0.96, compared with 1.20 in private hospitals), and for surgical separations in private hospitals (0.98, compared with 1.04 in public hospitals) (Figure 32). Overall, the relative length of stay was lower in public hospitals than in private hospitals. Childbirth is included in ‘other’ in this figure.