Trend analysis of surgery revenues at Osaka University Hospital

To identify medical and administrative revenue trends at a surgical center, for use in strategic planning, an off-line data processing system utilizing coding sheets was developed. Data on 66,402 surgical procedures performed at the Osaka University Hospital Surgical Center between 1966 and 1981 were processed to study trends in revenues. Trend analysis shows that (a) revenues at the surgical center have been increasing year by year; (b) technical charges, such as operation and anesthesia fees, have increased with each revision of the medical remuneration system of Japanese government health insurance; and (c) the length of time patients stay in the operating room has gradually increased.