Fisher, D A

Murray, J M

Cleary, M I

Brewerton, R E

1998-10-19

With increasing implementation of casemix-based funding for hospitals, quantitative data were needed to confirm the clinical impression that treating Aboriginal (compared with non-Aboriginal) inpatients consumes significantly more resources. Utilisation data, collected over a three-month period in 10 hospitals, were used to determine a cost per inpatient episode, which was grouped according to AN-DRG-3 to give a cost per AN-DRG for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander (ATSI) patients and non-ATSI patients. ATSI patients had consistently longer average length of stay and significant variation in relative frequency of admissions, compared with non-ATSI patients, with higher prevalences of infectious diseases. Degenerative and neoplastic conditions were more common in non-ATSI patients. There were significant differences in casemix-adjusted costs per patient episode (ATSI, $1856; non-ATSI, $1558; P < 0.001). Our study has quantified differential resource consumption between two Australian populations, and highlights the need for recognition of some hospitals' atypical populations and special funding requirements.

The Medical journal of Australia 1998-10-19; 169 Suppl: S11-6

0025-729X

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9830404/?otool=iaurydwlib

https://hdl.handle.net/10137/6864

Diagnosis-Related Groups

Ethnic Groups

Female

Financing, Government

Hospital Costs

Hospitals

Humans

Length of Stay

Male

Northern Territory

Oceanic Ancestry Group

Queensland

South Australia

Western Australia

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander casemix study.

Journal Article

Multicenter Study

Publication