Objective:To analyse the impact of diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment reform on the length of stay and hospitalisation expenses of patients in pilot medical institutions of Beijing, for references for the formulation and optimisation of DRG payment related policies.Methods:The home page data of inpatient medical records from 56 medical institutions that implemented DRG payment in Beijing from April to October 2021 (before DRG payment reform) and April to October 2022 (after DRG payment reform). Patients participating in the basic medical insurance for urban employees in Beijing were selected as the reform group, and others served as the control group. The difference-in-differences model (DID) were used to analyse the related indicators, to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform.Results:This study comprised a total of 3 294 003 inpatients. Of them, 1 714 134 cases were in the control group (911 100 cases before the reform and 803 034 cases after) and 1 579 869 cases were in the study group (802 899 cases before the reform and 776 970 cases after). The gender, age composition and treatment methods of patients changed little before and after the reform. But the proportion of patients with severe comorbidities or complications rose from 11.11% before the reform to 13.19% after the reform. Through the analysis of the DID model, the DRG payment reform could reduce the length of stay ( P=0.001) and hospitalization expenses of patients ( P<0.001), and played a certain optimising role in the cost structure. Among them, the proportion of medical service expenses did not change significantly ( P=0.977), the proportion of inspection and testing expenses, as well as drug expenses decreased slightly ( P=0.001, P=0.004), and the proportion in consumable expenditures increased slightly ( P=0.001). Conclusions:DRG payment reform played a positive role in shortening the length of stay and hospitalization expenses. It was suggested that medical institutions in Beijing should further optimize the structure of patient hospitalization expenses, with a focus on exploring effective ways to increase the medical service revenue and reasonably control the consumables costs.

Objective:To analyse the impact of diagnosis-related groups (DRG) payment reform on the length of stay and hospitalisation expenses of patients in pilot medical institutions of Beijing, for references for the formulation and optimisation of DRG payment related policies.Methods:The home page data of inpatient medical records from 56 medical institutions that implemented DRG payment in Beijing from April to October 2021 (before DRG payment reform) and April to October 2022 (after DRG payment reform). Patients participating in the basic medical insurance for urban employees in Beijing were selected as the reform group, and others served as the control group. The difference-in-differences model (DID) were used to analyse the related indicators, to evaluate the effectiveness of the reform.Results:This study comprised a total of 3 294 003 inpatients. Of them, 1 714 134 cases were in the control group (911 100 cases before the reform and 803 034 cases after) and 1 579 869 cases were in the study group (802 899 cases before the reform and 776 970 cases after). The gender, age composition and treatment methods of patients changed little before and after the reform. But the proportion of patients with severe comorbidities or complications rose from 11.11% before the reform to 13.19% after the reform. Through the analysis of the DID model, the DRG payment reform could reduce the length of stay ( P=0.001) and hospitalization expenses of patients ( P<0.001), and played a certain optimising role in the cost structure. Among them, the proportion of medical service expenses did not change significantly ( P=0.977), the proportion of inspection and testing expenses, as well as drug expenses decreased slightly ( P=0.001, P=0.004), and the proportion in consumable expenditures increased slightly ( P=0.001). Conclusions:DRG payment reform played a positive role in shortening the length of stay and hospitalization expenses. It was suggested that medical institutions in Beijing should further optimize the structure of patient hospitalization expenses, with a focus on exploring effective ways to increase the medical service revenue and reasonably control the consumables costs.

Objective:To optimize the diagnosis-related groups (DRG) weight calculation method based on the perspective of hospital performance evaluation and the high-quality development orientation of public hospitals.Methods:Using the first page data of 3 256 701 inpatient medical records from secondary and tertiary hospitals in Beijing from January to December 2021, three algorithms including payment DRG weight, five-category DRG weight, and optimized DRG weight were used to calculate the weights of each DRG, and the differences between different algorithms were analyzed. The case-mix index (CMI) of the entire hospital and the clinical specialties to which the key DRG belongs in secondary and tertiary hospitals was calculated by using the three DRG weight algorithms, to reflect the performance evaluation results of different algorithms.Results:The results of one-way ANOVA showed that there was a significant difference ( P=0.019) among the three DRG weight algorithms. Comparing the optimized DRG weight with the payment DRG weight, the weight of BD29 (neural stimulator implantation or removal surgery) in the key DRG decreased from 7.77 to 4.61, and the weight of LA19 (renal tumor surgery) increased from 2.06 to 2.58; Compared with the five-category DRG weight, the weight of ES31 (respiratory infection/inflammation with severe complications or comorbidities) decreased from 2.36 to 1.72, and the weight of CB39 (crystalloid surgery) increased from 0.22 to 0.30. Comparing the use of optimized DRG weights and five-category DRG weights to calculate CMI, all types of hospitals and clinical specialties showed varying degrees of improvement in CMI. The CMI of tertiary hospitals increased from 1.02 to 1.20, and the CMI of secondary hospitals increased from 0.88 to 0.95. The difference in CMI between secondary and tertiary hospitals was even more pronounced. Conclusions:Optimized DRG weights could better reflect the value of medical technology compared with the payment DRG weights. Compared to five-category DRG weights, optimized DRG weights could better reflect the differences in CMI of different levels of hospitals.

DRG-based prospective payment system ( DRG-PPS ) is one type of mature inpatient care payment mechanisms in most countries and pilot projects would be introduced to China in 2017. This article provides an overview of the previous typical DRG-PPS reform initiatives on provincial, municipal and county level respectively. It also summa-rizes the characteristics of the reform programs, describes the diversities of policy implementation, and discusses the suc-cessful experience and implications of the initiatives. The paper puts forward some suggestions on the upcoming DRG-PPS pilot projects based on the progress and problems of the initiatives, to promote the DRG-PPS reform in China.

Objective To establish a model of DRG-like grouping of cesarean section patients in the Beijing area so as to observe its feasibility of controlling rising medical costs.Methods DRG-like grouping of cesarean section patients was conducted by case-mix/DRG.The patients were divided into 3 groups according to complications: the serious complication group,the moderate complication group,and the minor or no complication group.Results The rate of cesarean sections remained at 50% or so in Beijing.A statistical analysis showed a significant difference between the 3 groups in costs and length of hospital stay.70% of the cases in the serious complication group belonged to the high cost group whereas 70 % of the cases in the minor or no complication group belonged to the low cost group.Conclusion The main ways of controlling rising costs for cesarean sections include reducing the rate of cesarean sections and(adopting) DRG-like PPS payments in view of the nature of medical insurance and government payments for cesarean sections.