Costs of polish county hospitals-A behavioral panel function.

In the paper the costs of Polish county hospitals in 2015-2018 are studied using behavioral cost function. The set of variables combines hospitals' characteristics which may determine their level of costs, such as the form of ownership, bed turnover rate, number of patient-days and share of beds in emergency department with environment characteristics which may influence both outsourcing costs and patients' health. In 2017 the system of basic hospital service provision (hospital network) was introduced in Poland. Dummy variables included in the model represent the category of hospital in the system. The results show that the costs may be described using fixed effect panel model. Positive impact of percentage of emergency department patients transferred to other departments and of wages is found. Higher ratio of residents and interns to doctors is found to decrease costs. Dummy variable for the period after the introduction of hospital network assumed a negative sign with costs, but the parameter remained insignificant.

Association of Multiple Hospital Affiliations With Clinician Service Use, Breadth of Procedures, and Costs.

Importance: Little is known about whether a clinician having multiple hospital affiliations (ie, 1 clinician working across multiple teams and organizations) is associated with clinician practice style and cost. The measurement of this association requires adjusting for selection into multihospital affiliations based on both observable and unobservable clinician characteristics. Objective: To evaluate the association of multiple hospital affiliations with clinician service use, breadth of procedures used, and costs. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study used Medicare Part B data from 2016 through 2017 in a fixed-effects panel data design to compare service use, procedure breadth, and costs between clinicians with multiple affiliations (treatment group) and clinicians with a single affiliation (control group), with adjustment for volume, patients, and clinician characteristics. The study also controlled for unobserved (time-invariant) clinician characteristics using individual clinician fixed effects. Clinicians with Medicare claims, a reported National Provider Identifier, and affiliation data within Medicare Physician Compare were included for a total sample of 1 073 252 observations (633 552 unique clinicians) for medical services and 358 669 observations (210 260 unique clinicians) for drug prescribing. Statistical analyses were performed from February 1 to October 15, 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures: Service use is the total number of medical (or drug) services that clinicians render to their Medicare beneficiaries within a given year, procedure breadth is the total number of unique Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System codes that are associated with clinicians' medical (or drug) services within a given year, and costs represent the total standardized amount paid by Medicare for the medical (or drug) services. Additional measures were multiple-hospital affiliations, Accountable Care Organization affiliation, and controls across clinician and patient characteristics. Results: The medical service sample consisted of 633 552 clinicians (248 359 women [39.2%]; mean [SD] of 19.6 [12.5] years of experience), and the drug service sample consisted of 210 260 clinicians (74 875 women [35.6%]; mean [SD] of 21.6 [12.3] years of experience). For medical services, clinicians with multiple practice affiliations used a mean 8.2% (95% CI, 7.5%-8.9%; P < .001) more medical services per patient, drew on a mean 5.4% (95% CI, 5.1%-5.7%; P < .001) wider set of procedures within their medical care, and incurred a mean 8.6% (95% CI, 7.9%-9.2%; P < .001) more in medical costs. Pertaining to drug services, clinicians with multiple practice affiliations used a mean 2.9% (95% CI, 1.9%-3.9%; P < .001) more drug services per patient, drew on a mean 1.0% (95% CI, 0.5%-1.4%; P < .001) wider set of procedures within their medical care, and incurred a mean 2.7% (95% CI, 1.6%-3.7%; P < .001) more in drug costs. Significant results were also found across extensive and intensive margins of hospital affiliation, and supplemental analysis further indicated heterogenous treatment associations across clinician specialties. Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found that a clinician having multihospital affiliations was associated with greater service use, procedure breadth, and costs across both medical and drug services. These findings suggest that clinician affiliations ought to be considered as part of health care delivery design and potential cost-containment strategies.

Gastos com internações psiquiátricas no estado de São Paulo: estudo ecológico descritivo, 2014 e 2019 / Gasto en hospitalizaciones psiquiátricas en el estado de São Paulo, Brasil: estudio ecológico descriptivo, 2014 y 2019 / Expenditure on psychiatric hospitalizations in the State of São Paulo, Brazil: a descriptive ecological study, 2014 and 2019

Objetivo: Analisar os gastos com internações psiquiátricas no estado de São Paulo, Brasil, nos anos de 2014 e 2019. Métodos: Estudo ecológico descritivo, com análise de dados das internações hospitalares psiquiátricas no estado, obtidos do Sistema de Informações Hospitalares do Sistema Único de Saúde. Resultados: Foram analisadas 115.652 internações ocorridas em 2014, e 79.355 em 2019 (redução de 31,38%). Observaram-se reduções nos valores gastos com internações psiquiátricas (-42,94%), destacando-se as internações de caráter de urgência, de pessoas do sexo feminino (-46,46%), nas idades de 15 a 49 (-36,85%) e mais de 50 anos (-51,54%). Conclusão: As reduções de frequência e de valores gastos com internações psiquiátricas fornecem elementos para a avaliação e alocação de recursos destinados à atenção da saúde mental, no âmbito das internações hospitalares e da utilização de serviços de base comunitária.

Objetivo: Analizar el gasto en hospitalizaciones psiquiátricas en el Estado de São Paulo, Brasil, en los años 2014 y 2019. Métodos: Estudio ecológico descriptivo, con análisis de datos de ingresos hospitalarios psiquiátricos en el Estado de São Paulo, obtenidos del Sistema de Información Hospitalaria del Sistema Único de Salud. Resultados: Se analizaron 115,652 hospitalizaciones ocurridas en 2014 y 79,355 ocurridas en 2019 (reducción del 31.38%). Hubo reducciones en los montos gastados en hospitalizaciones psiquiátricas (-42,94%), con énfasis en hospitalizaciones de urgencia, de pacientes del sexo femenino (-46,46%), en los grupos de edad de 15 a 49 años (-36,85%) y mayores de 50 años (-51,54%). Conclusión: Las reducciones en la frecuencia y los montos gastados en hospitalizaciones psiquiátricas proporcionan elementos para la evaluación y asignación de recursos para la atención de la salud mental, dentro del alcance de las admisiones hospitalarias y el uso de servicios comunitarios.

Objective: To analyze expenditure on psychiatric hospitalizations in the State of São Paulo in 2014 and 2019. Methods: This was a descriptive ecological study, with analysis of data on psychiatric hospital admissions in the State of São Paulo, retrieved from the Hospital Information System. Results: 115,652 hospitalizations that occurred in 2014 and 79,355 that occurred in 2019 were analyzed (reduction of 31.38%). There were reductions in the amounts spent on psychiatric hospitalizations (-42.94%), in particular expenditure on urgency hospitalizations, on female patients (-46.46%), on people aged 15-49 years (-36.85%) and on those aged over 50 years (-51.54%). Conclusion: The reduction in expenditure on psychiatric hospitalizations and the reduction in their frequency provide elements for the assessment and allocation of resources for mental health care, within the scope of hospital admissions and use of community-based services.

A importância dos registros de enfermagem no contexto avaliativo da auditoria / The importance of nursing records within the audit assessment context

Objetivo: Analisar a importância dos registros de enfermagem no contexto avaliativo da auditoria. Método: Trata-se de uma revisão integrativa da literatura realizada nas bases de dados LILACS, MEDLINE e BDENF, por meio dos descritores Auditoria de Enfermagem; Auditoria Clínica; Registros de Enfermagem; Anotações de Enfermagem e Enfermagem. A busca foi realizada de 12 de janeiro a 26 de fevereiro de 2018 e selecionados 17 artigos que compõem o estudo. Resultados: a importância dos registros de enfermagem no contexto avaliativo da auditoria se dá pela investigação da qualidade do cuidado prestado por meio das evidências proporcionadas nos registro/anotações de enfermagem no portuário do paciente, evitar prejuízos na continuação do cuidado, intensificar sugestões de implantações de valores educacionais por meio da educação continuada e permanente, resgatar os valores econômicos perdidos por glosas em contas hospitalares e promover a melhoria da qualidade da assistência. Conclusão: foi possível verificar que, mesmo sendo uma prática que deva ser realizada com qualidade, o processo de auditora ainda encontra muita fragilidade nas informações encontradas nos diversos registros do profissional de enfermagem, o que acarreta grandes prejuízos.

Objective: To analyze the importance of nursing records in the evaluative context of the audit. Method: This is an integrative literature review performed in the LILACS, MEDLINE and BDENF databases using the descriptors Nursing Audit; Clinical audit; Nursing records; Nursing and Nursing Notes. The search was performed from January 12 to February 26, 2018, selecting a total of 17 articles. Results: the importance of nursing records in the evaluative context of the audit is due to the investigation of the quality of care provided through the evidence provided in the nursing records/annotations in the patient's chart, avoiding losses in the continuation of care, intensifying suggestions for implantation of nursing care, educational values through continuing and continuing education, recovering the economic values lost by disallowances in hospital bills and promoting the improvement of the quality of care. Conclusion: it was possible to verify that, even though it is a practice that should be performed with quality, the audit process still finds a lot of fragility in the information found in the various records of the nursing professional, which causes great losses.

Medicare's Bundled Payment Initiatives for Hospital-Initiated Episodes: Evidence and Evolution.

Policy Points Evidence suggests that bundled payment contracting can slow the growth of payer costs relative to fee-for-service contracting, although bundled payment models may not reduce absolute costs. Bundled payments may be more effective than fee-for-service payments in containing costs for certain medical conditions. For the most part, Medicare's bundled payment initiatives have not been associated with a worsening of quality in terms of readmissions, emergency department use, and mortality. Some evidence suggests a worsening of other quality measures for certain medical conditions. Bundled payment contracting involves trade-offs: Expanding a bundle's scope and duration may better contain costs, but a more comprehensive bundle may be less attractive to providers, reducing their willingness to accept it as an alternative to fee-for-service payment. CONTEXT: Bundled payments have been promoted as an alternative to fee-for-service payments that can mitigate the incentives for service volume under the fee-for-service model. As Medicare has gained experience with bundled payments, it has widened their scope and increased their duration. However, there have been few reviews of the empirical literature on the impact of Medicare's bundled payment programs on cost, resource use, utilization, and quality. METHODS: We examined the history and features of 16 of Medicare's bundled payment programs involving hospital-initiated episodes of care and conducted a literature review of articles about those programs. Database and additional searches yielded 1,479 articles. We evaluate the studies' methodological quality and summarize the quantitative findings about Medicare expenditures and quality of care from 37 studies that used higher-quality research designs. FINDINGS: Medicare's bundled payment initiatives have varied in their design features, such as episode scope and duration. Many initiatives were associated with little to no reduction in Medicare expenditures, unless large pricing discounts for providers were negotiated in advance. Initiatives that included post-acute care services were associated with lower expenditures for certain conditions. Hospitals may have been able to reduce internal production costs with help from physicians via gainsharing. Most initiatives were not associated with significant changes in quality of care, as measured by readmission and mortality rates. Of the significant changes in readmission rates, the results were mixed, showing increases and decreases associated with bundled payments. Some evidence suggested that worse patient outcomes were associated bundled payments, although most results were not statistically significant. Results on case-mix selection were mixed: Several initiatives were associated with reductions in episode severity, whereas others were associated with little change. CONCLUSIONS: Bundled payments for hospital-initiated episodes may be a good alternative to fee-for-service payments. Bundled payments can help slow the growth of payer spending, although they do not necessarily reduce absolute spending. They are associated with lower provider production costs, and there is no overwhelming evidence of compromised quality. However, designing a bundled payment contract that is attractive to both providers and payers proves to be a challenge.

Reducing Healthcare Costs for Mental Health Hospitalizations With the Evidence-based COPE Program for Child and Adolescent Depression and Anxiety: A Cost Analysis.

INTRODUCTION: Although depression and anxiety affect approximately 20% of children and adolescents, many of those affected do not receive treatment because, in large part to the shortage of mental health providers across the United States. As an alternative to traditional mental health counseling, the Creating Opportunities for Personal Empowerment (COPE) program is an evidence-based manualized 7-session cognitive behavioral therapy-based program that is being effectively delivered to children and teens with depression and anxiety by pediatric and family healthcare providers in primary care practices with reimbursement from insurers. METHODS: The purpose of this study was to perform a cost analysis of delivering COPE and compare it to the cost of hospitalization for primary mental health diagnosis. RESULTS: Findings indicated a cost savings of $14,262 for every hospitalization that is prevented. DISCUSSION: Implementation of COPE can improve outcomes for children and teens with depression and anxiety, and could potentially result in millions of dollars of cost savings for the U.S. healthcare system.

Effects of a Surgical Receipt Program on the Supply Costs of Five General Surgery Procedures.

BACKGROUND: Surgical supplies occupy a large portion of health care expenditures but is often under the surgeon's control. We sought to assess whether an automated, surgeon-directed, cost feedback system can decrease supply expenditures for five common general surgery procedures. MATERIALS AND METHODS: An automated "surgical receipt" detailing intraoperative supply costs was generated and emailed to surgeons after each case. We compared the median cost per case for 18 mo before and after implementation of the surgical receipt. We controlled for price fluctuations by applying common per-unit prices in both periods. We also compared the incision time, case length booking accuracy, length of stay, and postoperative occurrences. RESULTS: Median costs decreased significantly for open inguinal hernia ($433.45 to $385.49, P < 0.001), laparoscopic cholecystectomy ($886.77 to $816.13, P = 0.002), and thyroidectomy ($861.21 to $825.90, P = 0.034). Median costs were unchanged for laparoscopic appendectomy and increased significantly for lumpectomy ($325.67 to $420.53, P < 0.001). There was an increase in incision-to-closure minutes for open inguinal hernia (71 to 75 min, P < 0.001) and laparoscopic cholecystectomy (75 to 96 min, P < 0.001), but a decrease in thyroidectomy (79 to 73 min, P < 0.001). There was an increase in booking accuracy for laparoscopic appendectomy (38.6% to 55.0%, P = 0.001) and thyroidectomy (32.5% to 48.1%, P = 0.001). There were no differences in postoperative occurrence rates and length of stay duration. CONCLUSIONS: An automated surgeon-directed surgical receipt may be a useful tool to decrease supply costs for certain procedures. However, curtailing surgical supply costs with surgeon-directed cost feedback alone is challenging and a multimodal approach may be necessary.

Identification of hospital cost drivers using sparse group lasso.

Public hospital spending consumes a large share of government expenditure in many countries. The large cost variability observed between hospitals and also between patients in the same hospital has fueled the belief that consumption of a significant portion of this funding may result in no clinical benefit to patients, thus representing waste. Accurate identification of the main hospital cost drivers and relating them quantitatively to the observed cost variability is a necessary step towards identifying and reducing waste. This study identifies prime cost drivers in a typical, mid-sized Australian hospital and classifies them as sources of cost variability that are either warranted or not warranted-and therefore contributing to waste. An essential step is dimension reduction using Principal Component Analysis to pre-process the data by separating out the low value 'noise' from otherwise valuable information. Crucially, the study then adjusts for possible co-linearity of different cost drivers by the use of the sparse group lasso technique. This ensures reliability of the findings and represents a novel and powerful approach to analysing hospital costs. Our statistical model included 32 potential cost predictors with a sample size of over 50,000 hospital admissions. The proportion of cost variability potentially not clinically warranted was estimated at 33.7%. Given the financial footprint involved, once the findings are extrapolated nationwide, this estimation has far-reaching significance for health funding policy.

Comparing hospital compensation to actual costs based on the Greek Diagnosis-Related Group system in ophthalmology.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the effects of the new system of pricing medical services in the field of ophthalmology in Greece. In addition, it attempts to benchmark the system with respective interventions at an international level. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study deals with the implementation of the new system, presenting systematic pairing of ophthalmic coding with other coded information regarding registration and management. Statistical data analysis is performed related to the cost and, finally, proposals are formulated to improve the current system. RESULTS: A significant difference is noted in the quantitative and qualitative characteristics of the Greek system compared with internationally applied Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) systems in the field of ophthalmology. The proposed funding for ophthalmic inpatient cases mostly meets real needs and costs of hospitals for supplies. Complicated cases, mainly in cataract surgery, increase the real cost and may cause a deviation depending on the rate of complications. In these cases, the average cost was 673.28 ±â€Š58.7&OV0556; as opposed to uncomplicated cases (346.78 ±â€Š21.3&OV0556;), bearing a statistically significant difference (P < 0.001, Mann-Whitney test). The total compensation of the hospital was higher than the actual cost for surgical procedures covering the respective expenses. CONCLUSION: Although the recently implemented compensation system for public hospitals mostly covers the actual cost for ophthalmic surgical cases, some deviations from the real needs are being identified. Several amendments could be applied to increase efficiency and improve the quality of health services provided by Greek hospitals.

[Methods for the analysis and treatment of cost data by micro- and gross-costing approaches]. / Méthodes d'analyse et de traitement des données de coût : approches par « micro-costing ¼ et « gross-costing ¼.

This work addresses the analysis of individual cost data in the setting of interventional or observational studies using statistical analysis software once the costs per patient have been estimated. It is in fact necessary to be able to present and describe data in an appropriate manner in each of the studied health strategies and to test whether the difference in costs observed between treatment groups is due to chance or not. Furthermore, cost analysis differs from conventional statistical analysis in that cost data have a certain number of specific properties, including their use by health decision-makers. This work also addresses the difficulties that generally arise in regard to the distribution of cost; it explains why the mathematical average constitutes the only relevant measure for economists; and it outlines which analyses are required for inter-strategy cost comparisons. It also covers the issue of missing or censored data, features that are inherent to information collected regarding costs and to sensitivity analyses.

[Standard or specific unit costs: Which criteria for choosing an economic evaluation of health strategies in multicentric studies?] / Coûts unitaires standards ou coûts unitaires spécifiques : quels critères de choix pour l'évaluation économique de stratégies de santé dans les études multicentriques ?

The question of what monetary value should be assigned to consumed resources, that is to say the choice of the unit cost, is a major consideration in terms of impact on the cost analysis results. To date, no agreement has been reached regarding this methodological question. The choices made by methodologists and the subsequent impact on the results of the analysis are only rarely put forward. This work addresses the theoretical framework of health strategy evaluations that can be carried out either in the normative framework of the conventional economic approach of well-being, referred to as welfarist, or in that of an approach referred to as extra-welfarist. It also provides elements that help clarify the choice of the hospital unit costs used to calculate the cost of health strategies, so as to reconcile the use of such studies and improve their comparability. What is preferable, opting for specific per hospital unit costs or applying a standard unit cost to all facilities? How should a standard cost be calculated? Is it appropriate to calculate an average of the unit costs, as recommended by certain guidelines? The advantages and the limitations of the various modes of assessing hospital resources in the setting of multicentric trials are discussed.

Potential loss of revenue due to errors in clinical coding during the implementation of the Malaysia diagnosis related group (MY-DRG®) Casemix system in a teaching hospital in Malaysia.

BACKGROUND: The accuracy of clinical coding is crucial in the assignment of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs) codes, especially if the hospital is using Casemix System as a tool for resource allocations and efficiency monitoring. The aim of this study was to estimate the potential loss of income due to an error in clinical coding during the implementation of the Malaysia Diagnosis Related Group (MY-DRG®) Casemix System in a teaching hospital in Malaysia. METHODS: Four hundred and sixty-four (464) coded medical records were selected, re-examined and re-coded by an independent senior coder (ISC). This ISC re-examined and re-coded the error code that was originally entered by the hospital coders. The pre- and post-coding results were compared, and if there was any disagreement, the codes by the ISC were considered the accurate codes. The cases were then re-grouped using a MY-DRG® grouper to assess and compare the changes in the DRG assignment and the hospital tariff assignment. The outcomes were then verified by a casemix expert. RESULTS: Coding errors were found in 89.4% (415/424) of the selected patient medical records. Coding errors in secondary diagnoses were the highest, at 81.3% (377/464), followed by secondary procedures at 58.2% (270/464), principal procedures of 50.9% (236/464) and primary diagnoses at 49.8% (231/464), respectively. The coding errors resulted in the assignment of different MY-DRG® codes in 74.0% (307/415) of the cases. From this result, 52.1% (160/307) of the cases had a lower assigned hospital tariff. In total, the potential loss of income due to changes in the assignment of the MY-DRG® code was RM654,303.91. CONCLUSIONS: The quality of coding is a crucial aspect in implementing casemix systems. Intensive re-training and the close monitoring of coder performance in the hospital should be performed to prevent the potential loss of hospital income.

Coronary Artery Bypass Graft Surgery Cost Coverage by the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).

INTRODUCTION: Cost management has been identified as an essential tool for the general control and evaluation of health organizations. OBJECTIVES: To identify the coverage percentage of transferred funds from the Unified Health System for coronary artery bypass grafts in a philanthropic hospital having a consolidated costing system in the municipality of São Paulo. METHODS: A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional research with information provided from a database composed of 1913 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft from March 13 to September 30, 2012, including isolated elective coronary artery bypass graft with the use of extracorporeal circulation. It excluded 551 (28.8%) patients, among them 76 (4.0%) deaths and 8 hospitalized patients, since the cost was compared according to the length of hospital stay. Therefore, the sample consisted of 1362 patients. RESULTS: The average total cost per patient was $7,992.55. The average fund transfer by the Unified Health System was $3,450.73 (48.66%), resulting in a deficit of $4,541.82 (51.34%). CONCLUSION: The Unified Health System transfers covered 48.66% of the average total cost of hospitalization. Although the amount transferred increased with increasing costs, it was not proportional to the total cost, resulting in a percentage difference in revenue that was increasingly negative for each increase in cost and hospital stay. Those hospitalized for longer than seven days presented higher costs, older age, higher percentage of diabetics and chronic kidney disease patients and more postoperative complications.

Coronary artery bypass graft surgery cost coverage by the brazilian unified health system (SUS)

Abstract Introduction: Cost management has been identified as an essential tool for the general control and evaluation of health organizations. Objectives: To identify the coverage percentage of transferred funds from the Unified Health System for coronary artery bypass grafts in a philanthropic hospital having a consolidated costing system in the municipality of São Paulo. Methods: A quantitative, descriptive and cross-sectional research with information provided from a database composed of 1913 patients undergoing coronary artery bypass graft from March 13 to September 30, 2012, including isolated elective coronary artery bypass graft with the use of extracorporeal circulation. It excluded 551 (28.8%) patients, among them 76 (4.0%) deaths and 8 hospitalized patients, since the cost was compared according to the length of hospital stay. Therefore, the sample consisted of 1362 patients. Results: The average total cost per patient was $7,992.55. The average fund transfer by the Unified Health System was $3,450.73 (48.66%), resulting in a deficit of $4,541.82 (51.34%). Conclusion: The Unified Health System transfers covered 48.66% of the average total cost of hospitalization. Although the amount transferred increased with increasing costs, it was not proportional to the total cost, resulting in a percentage difference in revenue that was increasingly negative for each increase in cost and hospital stay. Those hospitalized for longer than seven days presented higher costs, older age, higher percentage of diabetics and chronic kidney disease patients and more postoperative complications.

Defining the activities of publicness for Korea's public community hospitals using the Delphi method.

This study aims to identify which activities of a public community hospital (PHC) should be included in their definition of publicness and tries to achieve a consensus among experts using the Delphi method. We conduct 2 rounds of the Delphi process with 17 panel members using a developed draft of tentative activities for publicness including 5 main categories covering 27 items. The questions remain the same in both rounds and the applicability of each of the 27 items to publicness is measured on a 9-point scale. If the participants believe government funding is needed, we ask how much they think the government should support each item on a 0% to 100% scale. After conducting 2 rounds of the Delphi process, 22 out of the 27 items reached a consensus as activities defining the publicness of the PHCs. Among the 5 major categories, in category C, activities preventing market failure, all 10 items were considered activities of publicness. Nine of these were evaluated as items that should be compensated at 100% of total financial loss by the Korean government. Throughout results, we were able to define the activities of the PCH that encompassed its publicness and confirm that there are "good deficits" in the context of the PCHs. Thus, some PCH deficits are unavoidable and not wasted as these monies support a necessary role and function in providing public health. The Korean government should therefore consider taking actions such as exempting such "good deficits" or providing additional financial aid to reimburse the PHCs for "good deficits."

Do hospital mergers reduce costs?

Proponents of hospital consolidation claim that mergers lead to significant cost savings, but there is little systematic evidence backing these claims. For a large sample of hospital mergers between 2000 and 2010, I estimate difference-in-differences models that compare cost trends at acquired hospitals to cost trends at hospitals whose ownership did not change. I find evidence of economically and statistically significant cost reductions at acquired hospitals. On average, acquired hospitals realize cost savings between 4 and 7 percent in the years following the acquisition. These results are robust to a variety of different control strategies, and do not appear to be easily explained by post-merger changes in service and/or patient mix. I then explore several extensions of the results to examine (a) whether the acquiring hospital/system realizes cost savings post-merger and (b) if cost savings depend on the size of the acquirer and/or the geographic overlap of the merging hospitals.

Effects of healthcare reform on health resource allocation and service utilization in 1110 Chinese county hospitals: data from 2006 to 2012.

The central government of China launched a large-scale, expensive health reform in April 2009 because of the serious health-related problems in the country. This reform aims to re-establish a universal healthcare system, which is expected to provide affordable basic healthcare. Independent two-sample t-test, one-way ANOVA and chi-squared test were conducted to analyze the effect of the health reform on health resource allocation and service utilization in Chinese county hospitals. First, we described the hospitals' financial performance in terms of funding sources, balances and fiscal compensations (for personnel expenditure). Second, we discussed the total number of health personnel as well as the structure (number of medical personnel per thousand population and ratio of doctors and nurses) and quality of the health personnel. Lastly, we investigated the county hospitals' health resource utilization, bed occupancy and average medical expense per visit. Then, we probed different reasons and provided multiple approaches to existing problems. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Custos e Desfechos Clínicos na Intervenção Coronária Percutânea no Sistema Único de Saúde / Costs and Clinical Outcomes in Percutaneous Coronary Intervention by the Brazilian National Health System

O tratamento percutâneo da doença arterial coronariana (DAC) pode apresentar desfechos adversos relacionados às características da população e questões técnicas. DAC é uma das principais fontes de gastos com internações no SUS, especificamente o tratamento das síndromes coronarianas agudas (SCA), associado, principalmente, a procedimentos intervencionistas. Objetivos: Avaliar a efetividade e custo do tratamento de revascularização miocárdica percutânea realizado pelo SUS em hospital terciário em Minas Gerais. Métodos: Realizou-se uma coorte aberta prospectiva, com indivíduos submetidos à angioplastia coronária, pelo SUS, entre setembro/14 e abril/15. Os pacientes foram classificados conforme características clínicas e angiográficas e caráter do procedimento. Realizou-se acompanhamento por seis meses e avaliou-se a efetividade do tratamento. Foram levantados os gastos do SUS com os pacientes que realizaram os procedimentos eletivamente ou de urgência. Compararam-se os custos hospitalares com os valores pagos pelo SUS. Resultados: Em 83,2% dos 101 pacientes, o procedimento foi de urgência. Foram observados em seis meses: óbito (10,9%), reestenose clínica (7,9%) e infarto não fatal (2%). Não foram verificadas diferenças, com relação aos desfechos, entre os grupos angiográficos, clínicos e caráter do procedimento. Os valores pagos pelo SUS para tratamentos eletivos foram menores que os de urgência, com diferença do gasto mediano de R$1.768,75. Comparando-se os valores pagos pelo SUS aos custos da instituição, o déficit foi de R$ 430.095,30, com diferença mediana de R$ 2.283,74. Conclusões: O tratamento de revascularização miocárdica percutânea, pelo SUS, é efetivo. Os custos são maiores na urgência, e os valores pagos pelo SUS são deficitários. (Int J Cardiovasc Sci. 2016;29(6):431-442) Palavras-chave: Intervenção Coronária Percutânea / economia; Sistema Único de Saúde (SUS) / economia; Doença da Arterial Coronariana; Avaliação de Resultado de Intervenções Terapêuticas; Custos Hospitalares

Percutaneous treatment of coronary arterial disease (CAD) can present adverse outcomes related to population characteristics and technical issues. CAD is one of the main sources of expense, with admission in the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS), more specifically with treatments for acute coronary syndromes (ACS), mainly associated to interventional procedures. Objectives: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost of percutaneous myocardial revascularization performed through SUS at a tertiary hospital in the Brazilian State of Minas Gerais. Methods: We used a prospective open cohort, with individuals who underwent coronary angioplasty, through SUS, between September 2014 and April 2015. The patients were classified according to clinical and angiographic characteristic and character of the procedure. A six-month follow up was carried out and we evaluated treatment effectiveness. We verified the health system's expenditures with patients who underwent the procedure electively or as emergency surgery. We compared hospital costs with the amounts paid by SUS. Results: Of the 101 patients, 83.2% of cases underwent the procedure as emergency surgery. In six months, we observed: death (10.9%), clinical restenosis (7.9%), and non-fatal infarction (2%). No differences were observed, regarding the outcomes, between angiographic, clinical groups and character of the procedure. Amounts paid by SUS for elective treatments were smaller than emergency ones, with a median difference in expenditure of R$ 1,768.75. When comparing the amounts paid by SUS to institution costs, the deficit was of R$ 430,095.30, with a median difference of R$ 2,283.74. Conclusions: Percutaneous myocardial revascularization treatment is effective through SUS. Costs are higher in emergency scenarios, and the amounts paid by SUS are deficient.