title: Hospital charges for people with AIDS in Washington State: utilization of a statewide hospital discharge data base.
abstract: We analyzed Washington State inpatient hospital utilization for 165 AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) cases with 344 hospitalizations from July 1984 through December 1985. We found that mean charges per hospitalization were $9,166 and mean length of stay was 13.3 days. In addition, evaluation of two diagnosis-related groups (DRGs 079 and 398) commonly used for AIDS hospitalizations showed that AIDS hospitalizations were substantially more expensive than non-AIDS hospitalizations within the same diagnosis-related group. AIDS-specific diagnosis-related groups may be necessary to achieve a balance between inpatient charges and reimbursements.
mesh_terms: D000163:Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome / Q000191:economics*; D000328:Adult; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups; D005249:Fees and Charges; D005260:Female; D006716:Homosexuality; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay; D008297:Male; D008404:Massachusetts; D008875:Middle Aged; D010351:Patient Discharge; D012042:Registries; D012495:San Francisco; D014861:Washington