PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Muriel Brackstone
AU  - Gordon S. Doig
AU  - Murray J. Girotti
TI  - Surgical case costing: trauma is underfunded according to resource intensity weights
DP  - 2002 Feb 01
TA  - Canadian Journal of Surgery
PG  - 57--62
VI  - 45
IP  - 1
4099  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/45/1/57.short
4100  - http://canjsurg.ca/content/45/1/57.full
SO  - CAN J SURG2002 Feb 01; 45
AB  - Objective: To determine whether rate-based funding using resource intensity weights (RIWs) adequately represents trauma case costs.Design: A prospective time-in-motion resource utilization pilot study to assure the effectiveness of the computerized hospital Transition-One data acquisition system, followed by a retrospective observational case costing study. Patient costs with no identifying data were used, and all costs were tabulated as mean cost per group.Setting: London Health Sciences Centre, London, Ont., a tertiary care “lead” trauma hospital.Patients: A modified random selection of 4 control case mix groups (CMGs) of surgical patients for the fiscal year 1996–97. The trauma group was selected as a representative resource-intensive CMG. Each patient was assigned to a CMG by Health Records according to the most responsible diagnosis.Outcome measures: Total case costs were tabulated for each patient then combined for a mean case cost per CMG. The RIW assignments for each patient were combined to create a mean RIW per CMG and mean length of stay per CMG.Results: There was no statistically significant difference between the control surgical CMGs and the trauma CMG for mean RIW-adjusted length of stay per CMG, but there was a significant difference (p < 0.0001) between the control CMGs and the trauma CMG for RIW-adjusted mean case cost per CMG.Conclusions: RIWs underrepresent trauma case costs by a factor of 3.5, which could result in underfunding and potential fiscal difficulties for leading trauma hospitals as has occurred in the United States.