Costs and Case-mix in All Departments of Geriatric Medicine in Stockholm, Sweden – a Study Using the Resource Utilization Groups (rug-iii)

One of the most difficult problems in health care policy is adjusting payment to activity. Particularly little is known about how resources are allocated to departments of geriatric care. To investigate whether departments of geriatric medicine in Stockholm, Sweden relate their costs to case-mix, one of the most well-known case-mix systems for geriatric care, the Resource Utilization Groups, version 3, was applied to all departments of geriatric care in the area. The results showed large differences in the costs of the departments. No clear correlation was found between costs, patient turn-over, and case-mix. The implication of the study is that geriatric medicine needs to develop or adopt existing case-mix systems to be incorporated in payment models that more truly than today reflect resource use.