This variable is contained in the following files:
SAS Name
HOS_STAYS
This variable is the count of stays (unique admissions, which may span more than one facility) in the hospice setting for a given year. A hospice stay is defined as a set of one or more consecutive hospice claims where the beneficiary is only discharged on the most recent claim in the set.
Null/missing or 1-XXX
The CLM_FROM_DT for the first claim associated with the stay must have been in the year of the data file, however it was permissible for the CLM_THRU_DT to have occurred in January of the following year.
Source: CCW (derived)