Attitudes and knowledge about case mix reform among hospital staff in Australia

This paper reports some of the findings of a national survey of staff in acute care hospitals about their knowledge of case mix and their attitudes towards it. Our findings suggest that, despite the range and scope of activities that have been pursued under the Australian Casemix Development Program (ACDP), knowledge of case mix among acute care hospital staff remains patchy. The evidence also shows that significant aspects of the DRG classification system and the uses to which it can be put are not accepted by many hospital staff, particularly medical staff. The paper concludes with a discussion of what some of these findings imply for future activity on case mix reform.