WebSoftOSBed occupancy rate (BOR) and average length of stay (ALOS) calculator
Bed occupancy rate = inpatient days ÷ available bed-days × 100. ALOS = inpatient days ÷ discharges. A 50-bed hospital with 1,080 inpatient days and 270 discharges in a 30-day month has a BOR of 72% and an ALOS of 4.0 days.
Result
| Available bed-days | 1,500 |
|---|---|
| Bed occupancy rate (BOR) | 72.0% |
| Average length of stay (ALOS) | 4.0 days |
| Bed turnover rate | 5.4 discharges per bed |
| Turnover interval (idle days between patients) | 1.6 days |
| Empty bed-days in the period | 420 |
Key takeaways
- BOR shows how full the hospital was; ALOS shows how long each patient stayed.
- Bed turnover rate and turnover interval show how quickly a bed is reused after a discharge.
- Count only operational (staffed, usable) beds, and use the same period for every figure.
- A very high BOR with a long ALOS can mean delayed discharges; a low BOR with a short ALOS can mean low demand or slow admissions.
Hospital Bed Occupancy & ALOS formula
- Available bed-days
- operational beds × days in period
- Bed occupancy rate (BOR)
- inpatient days ÷ available bed-days × 100
- Average length of stay (ALOS)
- inpatient days ÷ discharges
- Bed turnover rate
- discharges ÷ operational beds
- Turnover interval
- (available bed-days − inpatient days) ÷ discharges
Worked example: a 50-bed nursing home for one month
A nursing home has 50 operational beds. In a 30-day month it recorded 1,080 inpatient days and 270 discharges.
- Available bed-days = 50 × 30 = 1,500
- BOR = 1,080 ÷ 1,500 = 72%
- ALOS = 1,080 ÷ 270 = 4.0 days
- Bed turnover rate = 270 ÷ 50 = 5.4 discharges per bed
- Turnover interval = (1,500 − 1,080) ÷ 270 = 1.6 days between one patient leaving and the next arriving
If ALOS fell to 3.5 days with the same admissions, the same patients would use about 945 bed-days, so about 135 more bed-days would be free for new admissions.
Using BOR in planning
- Compare BOR by ward and by month, not just for the whole hospital. A general ward near full while the ICU runs half empty needs a different answer from an overall figure.
- Track discharge time of day: late discharges hold a bed through the afternoon and push up the turnover interval.
Frequently asked questions
What is a good bed occupancy rate for a hospital?
It depends on the type of hospital, but many planners treat the 70–85% range as healthy, because very high occupancy leaves no room for emergencies. Compare against your own history and similar hospitals.
How do I count inpatient days?
Add up the number of admitted patients at midnight on each day of the period. A patient admitted and discharged on the same day is usually counted as one day by convention, so follow your own reporting rule.
Should I include deaths and transfers in discharges?
Yes. For ALOS and turnover, a discharge is any patient who leaves the bed, including deaths, transfers and discharges against advice.
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