Diagnosis related groups: choice, economy and nurse education

The recently created internal market for the NHS has resulted in an increasing interest in the ways that funding is allocated for patient care. Ways in which funding is allocated will affect all nurses at some point. Associated with the issue of funding of patient care have been attempts to identify case-mix. A variety of classification systems are available but the most widely utilised is that of Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs). This paper outlines the nature of this system and identifies some of the issues surrounding the DRG system and nurse education.