Case Mix, Costs, and Outcomes

Authors:
  • AGAlan M. Garber
    Alan M. Garber
  • VFVictor R. Fuchs
    Victor R. Fuchs
  • JSJames F. Silverman
    James F. Silverman
Publisher website
Google Scholar
Abstract
To gain insight into the possible consequences of prospective payment for university hospitals, we studied 2025 admissions to the faculty and community services of a university hospital, measuring differences in case mix, costs, and mortality in the hospital. The faculty service had more of the patients with costly diagnoses, but even after adjustment for diagnosis-related groups (DRGs), costs were 11 per cent higher on the faculty service (95 per cent confidence limits, 4 to 18 per cent). The percentage differential was greatest for diagnostic costs. The differential was particularly large — 70 per cent (95 per cent confidence limits, 33 to 107 per cent) — for patients with a predicted probability of death of 0.25 or greater.

This publication has 5 references indexed in Scilit: