Table 1

Schema to classify a pair of diagnoses from ER (admission) and IM (discharge)

IM discharge diagnosis compared to ER diagnosis is:Explanation:
IdenticalThe two diagnoses are either verbatim or medically identical.
PreciseThe IM discharge diagnosis is more precise than the ER diagnosis (eg, by adding an established, disease-specific score or the result of a test that was not available at the ER (eg, microbiological cultivation)) but otherwise identical.
ComplicatedThe lead discharge diagnosis from the IM was not foreseeable at the time of hospital admission at the ER but became the most prominent during hospitalisation (eg, a pulmonary embolism as a complication of the hospitalisation).
Hierarchically differentThe lead ER diagnosis is listed among the IM discharge diagnoses but is not the lead discharge diagnosis.
Diagnostically differentThe lead ER diagnosis is not among the IM discharge diagnoses.
Not classifiable

  • ER, emergency room; IM, internal medicine.