title: Impact of diagnosis-related groups on the quality of postoperative care of patients with neck dissections.
abstract: Two hundred eighty patients underwent neck dissection over a 10-year period: 138 during the 5-year period before the institution of Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) reimbursement and 142 during the 5 years after DRG regulations. A comparison of these two groups by site of tumor, stage of disease, histopathology, previous treatment, type of neck dissection, whether neck dissection was carried out alone or in combination with another procedure, presence of preexisting disease, postoperative complications, and mortality revealed no significant differences. A 35% reduction in the length of hospital stay from 16 to 10 days was identified in the post-DRG group with no detrimental effects on patient care. The variables found to have the greatest impact on length of hospital stay were the extent of operation and postoperative complications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Surgery, University of Louisville School of Medicine, Kentucky 40202.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Flynn
authors.forename: T G
authors.initials: TG
authors.lastname: O'Daniel
authors.forename: D G
authors.initials: DG
authors.lastname: Barnes
authors.forename: W D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Zimmerman
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Maguire
authors.forename: S A
authors.initials: SA
authors.lastname: Martinez
mesh_terms: D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D006258:Head and Neck Neoplasms / Q000601:surgery; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D037981:Neck Dissection; D011182:Postoperative Care; D011183:Postoperative Complications; D011787:Quality of Health Care