Accounting for Variation in Patient Length of Stay in Naval Hospitals Using Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) as a Case Grouping Method. Preliminary Results.

摘要

This report discusses the use of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) as a mechanism for identifying comparable groups of patients within naval hospitals so that performance comparisons can be conducted. Findings indicate that DRGs are a better patient grouping technique than the patient grouping methods currently used by the Navy. However, there must be other important contributors to patient length of stay in naval hospitals since DRGs were able to explain less than 25 percent of the total variation, which is considerably less than the explained variation reported by other case mix researchers. Additional research is planned to identify and quantify other factors that contribute to patient length of stay.