Diagnosis related groups (DRG)

A classification system of hospital cases used to pay hospital services, regardless of the cost to the hospital to provide services.
The system is based not on the severity of the disease but on the amount of resources consumed.
It categorises illness by diagnosis and treatment. A specific software (“grouper”) groups patients into “homogeneous groups” on the basis of diagnosis at discharge (coded by the International Classification of Diseases) and modified by the presence of a surgical procedure, patient age, presence or absence of significant comorbidities or complications, and other relevant criteria.

In German: Leistungsorientierte Diagnosefallgruppe (LDF)
Gruppierung von Hauptdiagnosen und medizinischen Einzelleistungen bei stationären Aufenthalten. Grundlage für die Leistungsorientierte Krankenanstaltenfinanzierung in Österreich mit rund 980 „LDF-Pauschalen“.

Last update: 15 June 2023

Source: PPRI