BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES One third of our nation's health care costs are incurred in the hospital. This study compares the inpatient outcomes between a family practice teaching service (FPTS) and a hospitalist group in the same suburban community hospital. METHODS All patients discharged by the hospitalist group or the FPTS between April 1998 and June 1999 were included for study if they had...

background combined procedures involving elective breast surgery at the time of abdominoplasty are frequently performed procedures in aesthetic plastic surgery. while found to be safe outpatient procedures, many surgeons elect to perform combined abdominoplasty/breast surgery as inpatient surgery. this study was performed to explore the practice of performing the combined procedure as an inpati...

Purpose. To determine if the American Society of Anesthesiologist (ASA) score can be used to predict hospital charges for inpatient services. Materials and Methods. A retrospective chart review was conducted at a level I trauma center on 547 patients over the age of 60 who presented with a hip fracture and required operative fixation. Hospital charges associated with inpatient and postoperative...

The onset of the prospective payment system (PPS) has profoundly changed the structure of physician charges under Medicare. The proportion of allowed physician charges originating in an inpatient hospital setting was drastically reduced. In 1982, more than three-fifths of physician charges were related to inpatient services. By 1985, less than one-half derived from inpatient care (Figure 1). Th...

Introduction Althoughthere is a consensus that the economic burden of burn injury is high, but few studies have conducted about cost of burns injury among pediatric in developing countries. We explored the main factors influencing on hospital costs and length of stay (LOS) associated with pediatric burns injury in Kermanshah, Iran. Methods and Material We performed a review ofmedical records fr...

IMPORTANCE Changes in health care reimbursement policy have led to an era in which hospitals are motivated to improve quality of care while simultaneously reducing costs. Research demonstrating the most efficient means to target costs may have a positive effect on patient quality of life and the overburdened health care system. OBJECTIVE To evaluate the effect of hospital length of stay (LOS)...

In this policy brief, we estimate and document rural hospital charges due to ambulatory care sensitive conditions (ACSCs) in the United States, by insurance type, from 2000 to 2004. ACSCs are specific adverse health conditions that can be managed in an ambulatory setting and should not require hospitalization. Hospital charges due to ACSCs are reported by region and payment source (private insu...

OBJECTIVES This study compares the characteristics and performance of spine specialty hospitals versus other types of hospitals for inpatients with spinal diseases in South Korea. We also assessed the effect of the government's specialty hospital designation on hospital operating efficiency. SETTING We used data of 823 hospitals including 17 spine specialty hospitals in Korea. PARTICIPANTS ...

OBJECTIVES The study assessed dexmedetomidine utilization and practice variation over time in ventilated pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) patients; and evaluated differences in hospital outcomes between high- and low-dexmedetomidine utilization hospitals. STUDY DESIGN This serial cross-sectional analysis used administrative data from PICU admissions in the pediatric health information sys...

OBJECTIVE We evaluated the association of different types of educational visits for diabetic patients of the eight Philadelphia Health Care Centers (PHCCs) (public safety-net primary care clinics), with hospital admission rates and charges reported to the Pennsylvania Health Care Cost Containment Council. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS The study population included 18,404 patients who had a PHCC...