Case mix and charges for inpatient and outpatient chemotherapy

Case mix and charges for chemotherapy treatment were examined by an analysis of the inpatient discharges for DRG 410 (chemotherapy) from eight teaching hospitals and of outpatient visits from two teaching hospitals. Discharges for ovarian cancer were the most common and the least expensive, costing $1,600 or half as much as the most costly, less common conditions (leukemia and testicle cancer). Diagnosis explained 13 percent of the inpatient charge variation; metastasis explained less than 1 percent. Outpatient chemotherapy overlapped with inpatient among only 3 of the 10 most common diagnoses. The implication is that the two settings are complementary with regard to chemotherapy administration.