Presently in rehabilitation, functional measures arrear to have an unmatched ropularity, both in terms of outcome research and in the develormem of a prospeerive payment system. Outcome research in rehabilitation, which undoubtedly includes the use of funerional measures, has become a rriority for man)' rehabilitation organizations The rress for this research is being fueled by the prospect of ...

UNLABELLED In 2004, Ghana started implementing a National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) to remove cost as a barrier to quality healthcare. Providers were initially paid by fee - for - service. In May 2008, this changed to paying providers by a combination of Ghana - Diagnostic Related Groupings (G-DRGs) for services and fee - for - service for medicines through the claims process. OBJECTIVE ...

PURPOSE The implementation of the Korean diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment system has been recently introduced in selected several diseases including appendectomy in Korea. Here, we report the early outcomes with regard to clinical aspects and medical costs of the Korean DRG system for appendectomies in Seoul Metropolitan Government - Seoul National University Boramae Medical Center throug...

Investigating the pharmacoeconomic impact of any diagnostic or therapeutic intervention in the Irish healthcare setting is currently compromised by the lack of detailed cost data. Consequently, we conducted a number of microcosting studies in the areas of acute myocardial infarction, cardiac failure and HIV, from the hospital perspective. The results of these microcosting studies were compared ...

BACKGROUND On 6 April 2009, an earthquake occurred in Abruzzo, a small region in the middle-east of Italy. Its chief town, L'Aquila, was the epicenter. We carried out an observational analysis to evaluate the potential association between the earthquake and the rate of cardiovascular and cerebrovascular admissions of the residents in the province of L'Aquila. METHODS We used administrative di...

PURPOSE The diagnosis-related group (DRG) system has been adapted to reduce overall medical costs by grouping and classifying relatively homogenous patients based on similar resource consumption patterns in the treatment. However, despite its wide range of disease manifestation from early inflammation to severe peritonitis, acute appendicitis is included in the DRG system. Responding to a need ...

QUESTIONS UNDER STUDY The reimbursement system SwissDRG sets incentives for hospitals and providers to treat patients in a cost-efficient way. Arising conflicts between the commitment to the patient's well-being and the economic interests of the hospital can lead to an impairment of quality and equity of health care. We developed and used a monitoring tool to evaluate ethically relevant aspects...

OBJECTIVES The Diagnosis Related Group (DRG) payment system, which has been implemented in Korea since 1997, is based on voluntary participation. Hence, the positive impact of this system depends on the participation of physicians. This study examined the factors determining participation of Korean obstetrics & gynecology (OBGYN) clinics in the DRG-based payment system. METHODS The demographi...

Neuropathic cancer pain is caused by tumors compressing the spinal nerve roots and is usually difficult to treat. The aim of current study was to determine the influence of NGF antibody on pain-related markers and behavior in a mouse model of neuropathic cancer pain. Twenty mice were used to model neuropathic cancer pain by applying murine sarcoma cells to their left sciatic nerve. Ten mice wer...

Background In 2003 Germany started to replace its per-day hospital payment system by a prospective payment system based on diagnosis related groups (DRG). The primary objective of the program was to increase economic efficiency of hospital care. The introduction was accompanied by fears that quality of care could deteriorate when hospitals withhold necessary care in order to increase profits. O...