Decentralized Management in a Teaching Hospital

TLDR

American hospitals have been pressured to control costs for over a decade, most recently under Medicare’s prospective payment system that sets fixed case prices based on DRGs, a model that could spread to other payers and physician reimbursement, though hospitals’ responses differ. Hospitals pursue cost control by adopting efficient management practices and by analyzing their DRG mix to identify profitable versus high‑cost services. No additional metadata provided.

Abstract

For more than a decade American hospitals have been asked to contain costs. The most recent program is the Medicare prospective payment system, which reimburses hospitals a fixed price per case based on diagnosis-related groupings (DRGs). If this approach proves successful, it may be adopted by other payers and perhaps extended to the reimbursement of physicians through prospective professional fees.Hospital reaction to the new payment scheme varies. Some look for cost controls and more efficient management techniques to reduce expenses; others carefully analyze their mix of DRGs to measure which are profitable and which involve unusual and expensive services. . .