Using Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) to Monitor Convalescent Leave.
Abstract
A primary responsibility of the Navy Medical Dept. is to ensure that active duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel who have experienced disease and injury are returned to duty as soon as medically indicated. One major contributor to lost work time among active duty personnel is convalescent leave, which is a period of medically ordered convalescence following hospitalization. A method that would identify homogeneous groups of patients with respect to convalescent leave would permit Navy Medical Dept. managers to monitor recommendations for convalescent leave by individual hospitals. In this report, four patient grouping methods were compared for their ability to explain differences in convalescent leave among the active duty Navy and Marine Corps population. Three of the methods commonly used by the Navy to group patients are based on ICD9 diagnosis and surgery codes: (1) diagnosis categories, (2) diagnosis categories subdivided by surgery and complications, and (3) three digit diagnosis codes. The fourth method selected was the ICD9-CM Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). Results indicated that the DRGs performed only slightly better than three digit diagnosis codes (40.9 versus 40.1% explained variation) but required fewer groups in which to classify the active duty population. Therefore, DRGs were selected as the preferred grouping method to be used for comparing recommendations for convalescent leave across hospitals.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Dec 01, 1983
- Accession Number
- ADA148437
Entities
People
- K. A. Rieder
- T. L. Kay