Study Data from Bowling Green State University Update Knowledge of Healthcare Economics (Do Hospitals Respond To Changing Incentive Structures? Evidence From Medicare’s 2007 Drg Restructuring)

2020 OCT 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Economics - Healthcare Economics is now available. According to news originating from Bowling Green, Ohio, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “In 2007, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid restructured the diagnosis related group (DRG) system by expanding the number of categories within a DRG to account for complications present within certain conditions. This change allows for differential reimbursement depending on the severity of the case.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Bowling Green State University, “We examine whether this change incentivized hospitals to upcode patients as sicker to increase their reimbursements. Using the National Inpatient Survey data from HCUP from 2005 to 2010 and three methods to detect the presence of upcoding, our most conservative estimate is an additional three percent of reimbursement is attributable to upcoding. We find evidence of upcoding in government, non-profit, and for-profit hospitals.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “We find spillover effects of upcoding impacting not only Medicare payers, but also private insurance companies as well.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Do Hospitals Respond To Changing Incentive Structures? Evidence From Medicare’s 2007 Drg Restructuring. Journal of Health Economics, 2020;73:102319. Journal of Health Economics can be contacted at: Elsevier, Radarweg 29, 1043 Nx Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of Health Economics - http://www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-health-economics/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Amanda Cook, Bowling Green State University, Dept. of Economics, Bowling Green, OH 43403, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102319. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

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