Transferred patients--more complex and more costly?
AN-DRGs have some splits which take illness severity and complexity into account. Age is also often used as a proxy for severity of illness. The need to transfer a patient may be a marker of illness severity or complexity and therefore resource utilisation. This is supported by studies of patients transferred to intensive care units. Data on the costs and outcomes of all transferred patients should be collected; depending on the results, refinements of DRGs may be indicated.
Butt
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WW
Intensive Care Unit, Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne, VIC. buttw@cryptic.rch.unimelb.edu.au
Shann
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FA
D001315:Australia; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics*; D006302:Health Services Research; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D015278:Intensive Care Units, Pediatric / Q000191:economics; D010360:Patient Transfer / Q000191:economics*; D014481:United States