Reshuffling the DRG deck. (cover story)

This article discusses issues concerning Medicare's diagnosis-related groups (DRG) in the U.S. On the surface, the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services added 16 DRG, deleted at least 10 and tweaked the rest in an attempt to better align Medicare reimbursements with types of practices that have been common. The American Hospital Association's biggest complaint is the sixfold expansion of DRG that determine payment for post-acute-care transfers. Move a patient from one level of care to the next before he reaches the average length of stay for that diagnosis then the hospital will not get reimbursed for full DRG but rather on a per diem basis.