Critical Nursing Administrative Applications of a Micro Processor

Abstract

The American Health Care industry has been thrown into a whirlwind as a result of the federal legislation for DRG (Diagnosis Related Groups), a federally funded prospective reimbursement system. The impetus for this legislation was the federal government’s commitment to cut its Medicare and Medicaid Health Care expenses. A three year phase in period has been provided to give hospitals an opportunity to examine and reduce its expenses in providing health care. DRG’s are a medical diagnosis dependent, prospective payment system that is based on a patient’s discharge diagnosis. This means hospitals will receive a pre-determined Medicare fee for care. This is an over simplification of the payment system, however, it suffices to say that hospitals caring for large Medicare populations must be efficiently and effectively managed to “break even” or make a profit.