Adjusting for nursing care case mix in hospital reimbursement: a review of international practice.
The purpose of this study was to examine and review the different ways in which nursing care can be accounted for in a general hospital reimbursement system. The study is based on a literature review and a survey of international experts. It provides a typology of nursing care adjustment methods, using current and past practices of 14 Western countries as key examples. The results of our review indicate that it is necessary to take the variability of nursing care within DRGs into account, not from a cost-accounting perspective, but from a management perspective in terms of correct resource allocation. However, further investigation of these complex relationships is urgently needed.
University Hospital of Liège, Belgium.
Nancy
N
Laport
Walter
W
Sermeus
Guy
G
Vanden Boer
Pieter
P
Van Herck
D001315:Australia; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics*; D005060:Europe; D005377:Financial Management, Hospital / Q000191:economics; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand; D017721:Hospital Costs / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006769:Hospitals, General / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics; D009520:New Zealand; D009656:North America; D015401:Nursing Administration Research; D009741:Nursing Staff, Hospital / Q000191:economics*; D012051:Reimbursement Mechanisms / Q000191:economics*; D040841:Resource Allocation / Q000191:economics; D020379:Risk Adjustment / Q000191:economics*; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016526:Workload / Q000191:economics