• Topic
  • Published
  • Updated

Acute care

Acute care kathschach

Acute care for inpatients in hospital refers to necessary treatment for a disease or severe episode of illness provided for a short period of time. CIHI provides valuable insight on the quality of care, patient experiences, cost, volumes and types of acute care cases admitted to Canadian hospitals. CIHI also facilitates the collection of standardized information on acute care through databases such as the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and the Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB). 

Explore information on acute care. Browse indicators, data tables, reports and other key resources. For information on emergency department and ambulatory care, go to our Emergency and ambulatory care topic page.

Featured material

Frailty among hospitalized seniors

  • Release summary
  • November 30, 2023
Explore information and data related to the CIHI Hospital Frailty Risk Measure, an acute care contextual measure developed to characterize the risk of frailty among seniors.

Indicators

See all indicators

Reports and releases

See all reports and releases

Acute care: Reports and releases

Acute care: Reports and releases kathschach

This page lists acute care reports, stories, infographics and release summaries.

Showing 1 to 10 of 134 results

Organ donation and transplantation data and reporting

  • Report
  • Published
This first release, created as part of the CIHI-Infoway ODT Data and Performance Reporting System Project, features health system performance indicators, ODT at a glance (an interactive tool) and infographics.

Wait times for priority procedures in Canada, 2024

  • Release summary
  • Published
Explore recent trends in volumes and wait times for hip and knee replacements, cataract and cancer surgeries, and diagnostic imaging at national and provincial levels.

Hospital stays in Canada, 2022–2023

  • Release summary
  • Published
Explore the most recent information on inpatient hospitalization, surgery and newborn statistics, including the top reasons for hospital stays and surgeries.

COVID-19 hospitalization and emergency department statistics

  • Release summary
  • Published
​​Explore the most recent information on hospitalizations and emergency department visits for patients with a diagnosis of COVID-19, including volumes, patient demographics and other key factors.

Frailty among hospitalized seniors

  • Release summary
  • Published
Explore information and data related to the CIHI Hospital Frailty Risk Measure, an acute care contextual measure developed to characterize the risk of frailty among seniors.

Acute care: Data tables

Acute care: Data tables kathschach

This page lists data tables that provide information about acute care.

Showing 1 to 10 of 95 results

Acute care: Indicators

Acute care: Indicators kathschach

This page lists CIHI’s indicators on acute care.

Showing 1 to 10 of 61 results

30-Day Stroke In-Hospital Mortality

  • Indicator
  • Published
This indicator calculates the risk-adjusted rate of all-cause in-hospital deaths occurring within 30 days of first admission to an acute care hospital with a diagnosis of stroke.

Acute care: Tools

Acute care: Tools kathschach

This page lists CIHI’s performance reporting tools that contain acute care data.

Showing 1 to 10 of 10 results

Health Indicators e-Publication

  • Tool
  • Published
Explore this large inventory of health indicators for regions and provinces/territories, which measure the health of Canadians and the performance of health systems. Jointly produced by Statistics Canada and CIHI.

Patient Cost Estimator

  • Tool
  • Published
Estimate the average cost of various hospital services, costs incurred by hospitals and the average cost of the average typical inpatient in an acute care facility. 

Quick Stats

  • Tool
  • Published
Quick Stats are a series of free, publicly available reports that provide aggregate-level data about health care in Canada.

Your Health System: In Brief

  • Tool
  • Published
Your Health System: In Brief is an interactive health information tool that explores the five themes that Canadians told us were the most important.

Your Health System: In Depth

  • Tool
  • Published
Explore Canadian health care and compare interactive data by hospital, long-term care organization, region and more

Your Health System: Insight

  • Tool
  • Published
Your Health System: Insight is an analytical tool that allows health care providers and analysts to dig deeper into indicator results. Find out more about what Insight can offer, how to get access and the data refresh schedule.

Acute care: Data holdings

Acute care: Data holdings kathschach

This page contains information about CIHI’s data holdings related to acute care.

Discharge Abstract Database

The Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) contains demographic, administrative and clinical data on inpatient hospital discharges. Facilities in all provinces and territories except Quebec are required to report to the DAD. Quebec acute inpatient records are submitted to CIHI through a different process and are included in the Hospital Morbidity Database.

Hospital Morbidity Database

The Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB) is a national data holding that captures administrative, clinical and demographic information on hospital inpatient events. It contains inpatient data collected via the DAD and inpatient records submitted from Quebec. Please note that Quebec day surgery records are part of the HMDB population as of 2012–2013.

Showing 1 to 10 of 15 results

Commonwealth Fund metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
Source, data coverage, data availability, data elements and data quality of The Commonwealth Fund (CMWF).

Comprehensive Ambulatory Classification System (CACS)

  • Metadata
  • Published
A national grouping methodology for ambulatory care patient data submitted to either the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) or National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS).

Hospital Morbidity Database (HMDB) metadata

  • Metadata
  • Published
Metadata for the HMDB, which contains administrative, clinical and demographic information on inpatient separations from acute care hospitals. This includes data from Quebec, which is appended to the DAD to create the HMDB.

Acute care: News and podcasts

Acute care: News and podcasts kathschach

This page contains media releases, bulletins and podcast episodes about acute care.

Showing 1 to 10 of 12 results

Regrouped Historical Data Dissemination Bulletin (PDF)

  • Bulletin
  • Published
This bulletin describes how clients can access regrouped historical acute inpatient and ambulatory care data from the Discharge Abstract Database (DAD) and National Ambulatory Care Reporting System (NACRS).

More than 120,000 Canadians hospitalized for COVID-19 last year

  • Media release
  • Published
​Hospitalizations due to COVID-19 increased by 19% in 2022–2023, while emergency department (ED) visits due to the virus decreased in the same time period, according to the latest data released by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI).

Palliative Care in Canada — Bernard Lapointe and Philippe Miquel

  • Podcast episode
  • Published
In this episode of the CHIP, host Alya Niang speaks with McGill University professor Bernard Lapointe and documentary filmmaker Philippe Miquel about the state of palliative care in Canada and why it is such a critical part of health care.

Important Information for CCRS, HCRS, IRRS, OMHRS and NRS

  • Bulletin
  • Published
Information to help clients prioritize assessment and data submission activities (in long-term care, home care, complex continuing care, inpatient mental health and inpatient rehabilitation settings).

Acute care: Education resources

Acute care: Education resources kathschach

Through our Learning Centre, CIHI provides opportunities for health professionals to understand our evolving reporting systems and the application of our standards, data and analytics. We offer many courses and resources for a variety of audiences, including clinicians, assessors, data submitters and analysts, decision-makers, policy planners and researchers.

Courses and resources are available in a variety of formats, including eLearning modules, PDF and page-based documents, live and recorded web conferences, and videos.

On this page:

 

Access CIHI’s Learning Centre

Discover whether you can learn for free!

Simply log in with your CIHI profile and prices will adjust to reflect your entitlements.

Log in 

New user?

Create a CIHI profile so our system can recognize your organization’s entitlements. By doing so, you will get a Learning Centre account — no extra steps needed!

Create a profile 

Browse our catalogues

With 300 learning products in a variety of areas, we’re sure to have something that meets your needs — and our online courses will always fit your schedule.

Visit the Education page 

Other education resources

Resources offered through CIHI include the following:

Showing 1 to 10 of 41 results

Case mix

  • Resource collection
  • Published
Case-mix grouping methodologies help health care facilities plan and manage their services.

CPES-IC Sample Size Recommendations (PDF)

  • Job aid
  • Published
​​This document recommends minimum sample sizes for administering the Canadian Patient Experiences Survey — Inpatient Care (CPES-IC).