Vergleich der Handchirurgie im deutschen und italienischen DRG-System Comparison of Hand Surgery in the German and Italian DRG Systems

Diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) are a patient classifi cation system grouping related types of patients treated to the resources they consum- ed. In this analysis we compared the Italian and the German DRG systems regarding hand surge- ry with an emphasis on reimbursement of cli- nical cases. The 15 most common hand surgical diagnoses and their corresponding operative treatment in our clinic in 2009 were processed using a DRG grouper. The underlying data were transferred to the Italian system. Thus, the length of stay and the reimbursement of both countries could be obtained and compared. The latter was adjusted and corrected by the purchasing power of each country. The mean of the upper threshold of length of stay was 10 days in the German as well as the Italian system whereas the median was 2 times higher in Italy (6 vs. 12 days). Fifteen out of 19 cases showed higher reimbursement in Germany. The case mix index (CMI) of 0.917 in