title: Bundling post-acute care (PAC) with Medicare DRG payments: an exploration of the distributional and risk consequences.
abstract: This exploratory study simulates the distributional and risk consequences of bundling 60 days' worth of post-hospital, post-acute care (PAC) with the inpatient stay, and paying for both on an all-inclusive, single-free basis. Simulations are conducted using 1987-1988 Medicare claims data from five states, focusing on patients discharged in 14 PAC-intensive diagnosis-related groups (DRGs). In this data, we find that hospital-level risk actually would be reduced if post-acute care were bundled with the DRG payments for inpatient stays.
authors.affiliation: Center for Health Economics Research, Waltham, MA 02164, USA.
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: R P
authors.initials: RP
authors.lastname: Ellis
authors.forename: A R
authors.initials: AR
authors.lastname: Merrill
mesh_terms: D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics*; D017050:Episode of Care; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital / Q000379:methods*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006760:Hospitalization / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007344:Insurance Claim Reporting; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D016344:Medicare Part A / Q000458:organization & administration*; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms; D014481:United States