Cost unit accounting based on a clinical pathway: a practical tool for DRG implementation.

Setting up a reliable cost unit accounting system in a hospital is a fundamental necessity for economic survival, given the current general conditions in the healthcare system. Definition of a suitable cost unit is a crucial factor for success. We present here the development and use of a clinical pathway as a cost unit as an alternative to the DRG. Elective coronary artery bypass grafting was selected as an example. Development of the clinical pathway was conducted according to a modular concept that mirrored all the treatment processes across various levels and modules. Using service records and analyses the process algorithms of the clinical pathway were developed and visualized with CorelTM iGrafix Process 2003. A detailed process cost record constituted the basis of the pathway costing, in which financial evaluation of the treatment processes was performed. The result of this study was a structured clinical pathway for coronary artery bypass grafting together with a cost calculation in the form of cost unit accounting. The use of a clinical pathway as a cost unit offers considerable advantages compared to the DRG or clinical case. The variance in the diagnoses and procedures within a pathway is minimal, so the consumption of resources is homogeneous. This leads to a considerable improvement in the value of cost unit accounting as a strategic control instrument in hospitals.

Multi-site interventional real-time procedure demonstrations with the use of integrated services digital network connections.

PURPOSE: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost of commercially available video conferencing units and standard Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) connections for real-time multi-site transmissions of interventional procedures. METHODS: A network of five separate interventional radiology departments-three in the Czech Republic and one each in Austria and the USA-was established using Polyspan (Polycom in the USA) View Stations and ISDN connections. This network was used for transmissions of 16 live interventional procedures to the Sixth International Workshop on Interventional Radiology in Prague, Czech Republic in June 2000. RESULTS: The transmissions were successful and of sufficient quality to contribute to the educational success of the workshop. The cost of the ISDN transmissions was a fraction of satellite transmission costs. CONCLUSION: Multi-site real-time interventional procedure transmissions using video conferencing Polyspan (Polycom) View Stations and ISDN connections are a promising means of improving interventional tele-education and decreasing its cost.

The antitrust risks of management services organizations, medical foundations, and integrated delivery systems.

This chapter focuses on the antitrust implications of forming a fully integrated delivery system. The danger lies in a challenge by the federal government or private parties, if the proposed system threatens the development of competing systems or excludes individuals or entities. By explaining the risks facing less integrated arrangements involving medical foundations and management services organizations, why forming an integrated system may resolve some of those risks, and the advantages and disadvantages of other options, this chapter also points out one of the primary benefits of forming an integrated system: reducing the antitrust risks. Finally, general suggestions are posed to minimize the antitrust risks when planning and developing any collaborative effort among providers.

Contribution of angiography to the diagnosis, staging and assessment of radiation and chemotherapy of solid abdominal malignancies in children.

Sequential angiographic studies were done in six children to stage and assess the results of radiation and/or chemotherapy of solid abdominal malignancies: one bilateral Wilms' tumor, two neuroblastomas, two hepatoblastomas and one hepatocarcinoma. Angiography was of value in demonstrating the tumor, its location, extent and vascular characteristics, as well as its regression and recurrence. Wilms' tumor and neuroblastoma responded and well to radiation and chemotherapy with substantial decrease in tumor size and regression or disappearance of tumor neovasculature. Resceted tumors revealed this to be due to tumor necrosis, hemorrhage and/or cystic degeneration. Hepatoblastoma and hepatocarcinoma did not respond as well to chemotherapy, with only mild decrease in size and neovasculature of the tumor.

The natural history of coronary artery stenosis. A longitudinal angiographic assessment.

Comparison of sequential large film coronary angiograms was performed for 58 patients with coronary artery disease, and no coronary surgery, to determine the relationship between the location, type, and degree of stenoses and their tendency to progress. Of 230 stenoses, 76 (33%) showed progression and 154 (67%) remained stable on the follow-up studies. Progression occurred in 38 (66%) patients. A statistically significant higher tendency to progress was found with tubular stenosis with ulcerating plaques (100%) and stenoses with collateral circulation (58%). A significant linear trend for progression was also found with the increasing number of risk factors of coronary disease. The above-average progression tendency of stenoses of the right coronary artery, tubular irregular stenoses, and Grade 2 stenoses, was not statistically significant.