A Smarter Way to Prioritize Post-Emergency Care
Introducing the Discharge Severity Index (DSI) — a validated tool to guide post-discharge decision-making.
What is the DSI?
Emergency Severity Index (ESI) vs Discharge Severity Index (DSI)
Two Tools, Two Moments in Patient Care
The Emergency Severity Index (ESI) is a five-level triage tool used in emergency departments to rapidly assess patient acuity and prioritize care based on urgency and anticipated resource needs. It helps clinicians allocate immediate attention to the most critical cases.
Category |
ESI |
DSI |
When Used |
At entry to the Emergency Department | At discharge from the Emergency Department |
Main Purpose |
Prioritize immediate care and resource allocation | Predict readmission risk and guide follow-up care |
Scoring System |
5-level scale (ESI-1 = most urgent) | 5-level scale (DSI-1 = highest readmission risk) |
Basis of Scoring |
Clinical judgment, triage data | Objective discharge data, logistic regression model |
Key Inputs |
Chief complaint, vital signs, expected resources | Age, HR, O₂ saturation, medications, ED length of stay |
Used By |
ED triage staff | Clinicians, researchers, care coordinators, population health teams |
How the DSI works?
Revisit of each DSI score:
5.16
Score >5
4.16
Score 5
3.04
Score 3_4
1.28
Score 1_2
0.37
Score 0
Why the DSI matters?
Reduce avoidable readmissions
Improve post-discharge resource use
Outperforms traditional triage tools like ESI
Easy to integrate into existing workflows