[Diagnosis Related Groups in intensive care units--cost model for critically ill patients]

The actual contribution of intensive care to total hospital costs in Denmark has yet not been completely identified. In order to adapt the DRG system to better reflect the actual costs of the intensive care units (ICUs) the original primarily diagnosis-based DRG system was modified in order to be based on ICU-related procedure codes. A new DRG system for ICU patients was developed and implemented in 2004. The ICU DRG-system consists of four groups reflecting progressive deterioration in organ failure. As a result there has since been a qualitative improvement in the documentation of the activities in the ICUs. The information categorized according to the new ICU DRG-groups allows for better differentiation of patients, and might lead to an increasing understanding of the quality of healthcare provision in the ICU by the use of comparisons in a database. A meaningful cost comparison between intensive care units can only be made by combining activity with quality of delivered care.