MCAP™ Admission and Discharge Criteria
Originally developed from the Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol (AEP) used in Canada, USA and Europe, MCAP Criteria has been updated continuously since 1987 to reflect current and best clinical and case management practices.
The MCAP Criteria determine the most clinically suitable level-of-care for patient placement. Because MCAP Criteria are service-focused rather than body-system specific, they apply equally well to simple and highly complex cases, including those with co-morbid conditions.
The criteria include 20 Medical/Surgical Criteria sets encompassing all relevant levels of care and 20 Behavioural Health Criteria sets encompassing psychiatry, substance use disorders, and outpatient services. The criteria can be used for admission review, for subsequent days of stay review during the patient’s treatment.
Benefits
MCAP Criteria are superior because, unlike any other Care and Resource Utilisation (CRU) product, they are focused on patient needs. MCAP uses the intensity of services delivered to the patient based on the patient’s severity of illness to accurately determine the best level-of-care for patient placement.
Development
Criteria development has been ongoing at The Oak Group and its predecessor organization, Utilization Management Associates, since 1987. Prior to that time, many of the individuals who worked on the original MCAP Criteria participated in the development of the AEP (Appropriateness Evaluation Protocol) criteria, the first attempt to logically understand the reasons that patients are admitted to and continue to stay in the hospital and to decrease the variability of reasons for admission and length of stay.
