DRG benchmarking: analysis of service structures and -differences in dermatology departments.
BACKGROUND
In the context of DRG-based hospital funding, the analysis of services provided in dermatologic inpatient care is highly relevant. We analyzed and compared clinical service structures and varieties in dermatologic hospitals through a benchmarking technique.


METHODS
For this multicenter cross-sectional study, routine data from 46 German dermatologic clinics and departments were collected, processed, and analyzed. In total, 95 257 data sets from 2011 were available. The data were grouped according to the G-DRG-system 2013 version.


RESULTS
The average length of stay for all cases was 6.3 days (DRG "inliers": 5.7 days), and average patient age was 52 years. In total, 55 % of all cases were grouped to medical, 45 % to surgical DRGs. 71 % of all hospitals provide services within or close to this average value (± 10 %). No association was found between the number of hospital beds and the variety of clinical services provided in our sample. We found huge varieties in several parameters assessing the coding quality.


CONCLUSIONS
The results reflect the heterogeneous reality in German inpatient dermatology. The varieties in dermatologic service range still depend on patient-related factors as well as infrastructural conditions and the resources available at each site.
IGES Institute, Berlin, Germany.
Torsten
T
Fürstenberg
Patrick
P
Gierling
Sebastian
S
Irps
Harald
H
Gollnick
Roland
R
Kaufmann
Rudolf
R
Stadler
Rainer
R
Rompel
Peter
P
Hensen
D019985:Benchmarking; D003880:Dermatology / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D003953:Diagnosis-Related Groups / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany / Q000453:epidemiology; D006742:Hospital Bed Capacity / Q000191:economics / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007902:Length of Stay / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D012871:Skin Diseases / Q000145:classification* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000191:economics / Q000628:therapy