13th International Congress
THE "NEW FRONTIERS"
OF ARRHYTHMIAS 1998

January 24-31, 1998
Marilleva, Trento, Italy

RT-89

Is DRG 112 homogeneous in the use of resources with regard to arrhythmology? A proposed methodology of evaluation

Catherine Klersy¹, Arturo Raisaro², Alberto Bonoldi³, Jorge A. Salerno Uriarte⁴.
¹Biometric Unit-Scientific Direction, ²Division of Cardiology and ³Hospital Direction, IRCCS Policlinico San Matteo, ⁴University of Pavia, Italy

Introduction

American DRGs have been recently introduced in Italy, as they have before in other European and extra-European countries, for measuring hospital productivity and thus for financing hospitals^1-3 . DRG should group clinically similar patients together, that have similar pattern of treatment. So each DRG should be related to a homogeneous use of resources: this homogeneity represents the basis for the validity of the classifying system. In arrhythmology, the DRG of major concern is DRG 112 of percutaneous procedures, which is responsible for a high level of resource absorption in cardiology. Hospital discharges are classified according to a wide series of procedures within DRG 112 (ICD9-CM codes 3596; 3601; 3602; 3605; 3609; 3734; 3726; 3727). Three procedures of main concern in arrhythmology, namely electrophysiologic study (EPS) and cardiac mapping, coded 3726 and 3727, so as arrhythmia radiofrequency ablation (RF), coded 3734, belong to it⁴.

Purpose of this study has been to quantify the costs distribution within DRG 112, with a particular regard to arrhythmologic procedures and to assess the homogeneity of resource use within this particular DRG, as measured by a system of relative weights originating in France, in the Cardiology Department of a Research Hospital in Northern Italy.