Diagnosis Related Groups In Europe Eurodrg

Summary: The volumes in the European Observatory on Health Systems and Policies series focus on key issues for health policy-making in Europe. This book is a joint venture between the WHO/EO and the EuroDRG which addresses the challenges of using Diagnosis Related Group systems in Europe.

When John Thompson and I first began talking about finding a way to measure and cost the output of hospitals in the 1960s. we really had no concept of the need for this kind of result. In fact. if we had listened to others in the health services research community. we would rrever have begun or persisted in the task. But it seemed important to us to begin to understand what up until then seemed unexplainable - the rather strange cost behavior of hospitals. We had the benefit of Professor Martin Feld stein's observation that case-mix was certainly an important factor. but we had literally no guidance on how to make some sense out of the very large number of illnesses that beset the human race. and the very large number of different processes that obtain in our hospitals as they attempt to cope with those illnesses. We were fortunate to find a small number of curious and capable graduate students to join us in this effort. for without them we would not have had a chance of success. While many contrib uted to the ultimate outcome. it is important to single out Ronald E. Mills. Richard F. Averill. Youngsoo Shin. and Jean L. Freeman for their efforts over many years. The diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) constitute a way of identifying the normal output of hospitals in a consistent and exhaustive manner.

“This timely book provides insight into the changing role of the ‘hospital’ in the face of technological, organizational innovation and ever-tightening health budgets.”James Barlow, Imperial College Business School, UK “This book covers various relevant aspects of the hospital in different states and contexts. Underlining the importance of business models for future hospitals, this publication presents models of care from a historic and a current perspective. All authors possess a deep insight into different health care systems, not only as scholars but as experts working for world-renowned health policy institutions such as the World Health Organization, the World Bank or the European Observatory for Health Systems.”Siegfried Walch, Management Center Innsbruck, Austria “For an organisation like mine, representing those involved in the strategic planning of healthcare infrastructure, this book provides invaluable insights into what really matters – now and for the future – in the complex and contentious field of hospital development.”Jonathan Erskine, European Health Property Network, Netherlands This book seeks to reframe current policy discussions on hospitals. Healthcare services turn expensive economic resources—people, capital, pharmaceuticals, energy, materials—into care and cure. Hospitals concentrate the use and the cost of these resources, particularly highly-trained people, expensive capital, and embedded technologies. But other areas of health, such as public health and primary care, seem to attract more attention and affection, at least within the health policy community. How to make sense of this paradox? Hospitals choose, or are assigned, to deliver certain parts of care packages. They are organised to do this via “business models”. These necessarily incorporate models of care – the processes of dealing with patients. The activity needs to be governed, in the widest senses. Rational decisions need to be taken about both the care and the resources to be used. This book pulls these elements together, to stimulate a debate.

This volume, developed by the Observatory together with OECD, provides an overall conceptual framework for understanding and applying strategies aimed at improving quality of care. Crucially, it summarizes available evidence on different quality strategies and provides recommendations for their implementation. This book is intended to help policy-makers to understand concepts of quality and to support them to evaluate single strategies and combinations of strategies.

Social Work with Adults is a definitive and accessible textbook on adult services for both undergraduate and postgraduate students. Adult social work is a complex and demanding area of practice that is constantly evolving. Practitioners in the field need to develop a depth of understanding, critical analysis, reflection and creativity as well as a capacity for dealing with change and the challenges that arise as a consequence. This invaluable book explores developments in working with adults from the days of the Poor Laws to current policies on personalisation in a dynamic and informative way. Written with expertise gained either through professional roles or through life experience (and sometimes both), the book captures the voices and personal experiences of practitioners and service users, as well as those of academics and trainers. These experts examine the social and political contexts that frame social work and share their insights and understanding around the topic, bringing the dilemmas and discourses to life. This is essential reading for undergraduate and postgraduate students, as well as those already working with adults in social work and social care, who will find new ideas and innovative perspectives to enhance their practice. Contributors: Ian Devereux, Felicity Elvidge, Donna Francis, Keith French, Edith Lewis, Charley Melville-Wiseman, Julie Potten, Marilyn Russell, Louise Watch, Mark Wiles and Yolaine Jacquelin. "This is a well written, authoritative and accessible text that would be a good resource for anyone wanting to learn about social work with adults in the UK. Each chapter is well organised, with clearly expressed learning outcomes and with thoughtful activities included to support learning." Dr Peter Scourfield, Peter Scourfield, Senior Lecturer in Social Work, Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK "Few texts capture or combine the perspectives and experiences of both adult service users and those social workers who seek to support and work alongside them. This one does and should be applauded for this. The reader gains a real sense of each contributor as a person and as a professional and/or service user. This is, above all, a positive, forward-looking book and one which I recommend to students, practice educators and university lecturers alike." Jem Price, Social Worker and Senior Lecturer, University of Brighton, UK "The ever-changing face of adult social care means that there is considerable need for a title like this, for practitioners and students struggling to understand the shifting sands on which they work. I consider this a very useful resource." Dr Andy Mantell, Senior Lecturer, Social Work Dept, University of Chichester, UK

In this book the authors explore the state of the art on efficiency measurement in health systems and international experts offer insights into the pitfalls and potential associated with various measurement techniques. The authors show that: - The core idea of efficiency is easy to understand in principle - maximizing valued outputs relative to inputs, but is often difficult to make operational in real-life situations - There have been numerous advances in data collection and availability, as well as innovative methodological approaches that give valuable insights into how efficiently health care is delivered - Our simple analytical framework can facilitate the development and interpretation of efficiency indicators.

The report focuses on a review of the implementation experience of case-based and DRG mechanisms in the Asia and Pacific region, drawing particularly on research in Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Thailand.