title: Monitoring purchaser expenditure patterns.
abstract: This study outlines the development and application of a methodology that allows direct comparison of the elements that make up in-patient healthcare across the West Midlands Regional Health Authority. The methodology produces a model which monitors the mechanism of resource utilization within the Region and the factors that influence it. The model shows how the uptake of healthcare varies by treatment specialty, between each provider unit, and across all purchasing authorities in the Region. The methodology accounts in all instances for demography and where appropriate for socio-economic deprivation. The novelty of this study is the generation of provider unit specialty costs that reflect both recorded activity and expenditure in the locality. The results of the investigation are made available to the purchasers to assess the levels of the services they are buying.
authors.affiliation: Department of Public Health and Epidemiology, The University of Birmingham, UK.
authors.forename: R C
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Gilthorpe
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003627:Data Interpretation, Statistical; D004470:Economics, Medical; D005260:Female; D017754:Group Purchasing / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D018803:Models, Economic; D011247:Pregnancy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013038:Specialization; D013043:Specialties, Surgical / Q000191:economics; D006113:United Kingdom