Comparison of Diagnosis-Related Group Rehabilitation Reimbursement Payments With Those of a Novel Patient Classification-Based Payment System.
Ruixue Ye, Xiaolong Zhu, Mingchao Zhou and 6 others
PMID 39372241WHAT IT FOUND
Among rehabilitation inpatients in Shenzhen, estimated hospitalization costs were lower under the new DIP payment system than under DRG payment in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
The study cannot show DIP caused the lower cost.
Key findings
01After adjustment, DIP payment was associated with lower rehabilitation hospitalization cost than DRG payment.
02The paper reports DRG hospitalization costs were 9%, 7%, 14%, and 10% higher than DIP costs in 2019, 2020, 2021, and 2022.
03Compared with 2019, adjusted hospitalization cost was significantly lower in 2021 and 2022.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The study was done only in Shenzhen, China, so it may not represent other places. The payment systems were not randomly assigned, so the study cannot prove DIP caused lower costs. Other health policies and patient or hospital characteristics were not measured, so they may explain part of the cost difference. The outcome was rehabilitation hospitalization cost, not patient function, therapy quality, or clinical benefit.
Declared interests
The study was funded by the San Min Project of China. The investigators reported no financial or nonfinancial disclosures.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that DIP payment caused lower rehabilitation costs. This was a retrospective comparison of payment systems, not a randomized study, and other unmeasured policies and patient or hospital factors may explain the cost difference.