The effect of hospital payment methods on the pattern and cost of mental health care

Hospital costs associated with psychiatric comorbidities: a retrospective study

BACKGROUND

Psychiatric comorbidities are relevant for the diagnostic and therapeutic regimes in somatic hospital care. The main aim of this study was to analyse the association between psychiatric comorbidities and hospital costs per inpatient episode. A further aim was to discuss and address the methodological challenges in the estimation of these outcomes based on retrospective data.

METHODS

The study included 338,162 inpatient episodes consecutively discharged between 2011 and 2014 at a German university hospital. We used detailed resource use data to calculate day-specific hospital costs. We adjusted analyses for sex, age, somatic comorbidities and main diagnoses. We addressed potential time-related bias in retrospective diagnosis data with sensitivity analyses.

RESULTS

Psychiatric comorbidities were associated with an increase in hospital costs per episode of 40% and an increase of reimbursement per episode of 28%, representing marginal effects of 1344 € and 1004 €, respectively. After controlling for length of stay, sensitivity analyses provided a lower bound increase in daily costs and reimbursement of 207 € and 151 €, respectively.

CONCLUSION

If differences in hospital costs between patient groups are not adequately accounted for in DRG-systems, perverse incentives are created that can reduce the efficiency of care. Therefore, we suggest intensifying the inclusion of psychiatric comorbidities in the German DRG system. Future research should investigate the appropriate inclusion of psychiatric comorbidities in other health care systems' payment schemes.

[Where is convergence of psychiatry budgets leading to? A comparison of staffing regulations and actual personnel resources]

BACKGROUND

Staffing regulations have determined the number of qualified staff required for sufficient, appropriate and economical inpatient mental health care in Germany since 1991. This minimum level of structural quality will probably be abolished in the context of the convergence of hospital budgets starting in 2019.

AIMS AND OBJECTIVES

The aim of this study was to analyze the current fulfilment of staffing regulations in terms of time per patient in a large nationwide sample.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

The required minutes of staff time as defined by staffing regulations were calculated for each patient using the treatment classifications provided by a large nationwide database. The actual use of staff time was calculated on the basis of average costs published by the German Institute for Hospital Reimbursement. Both figures were compared to calculate the fulfilment of staffing regulations.

RESULTS

The study included approximately 95,000 inpatient episodes from 46 psychiatric hospitals and departments with a total length of stay of almost 2.5 million days. On average, the weekly use of staff resources per patient was 190 min (10 %) below the requirements of the staffing regulations. The largest gap in absolute terms was found in nursing staff where the weekly time per patient was 189 min (14 %) below the requirements of the staffing regulations.

CONCLUSION

The convergence of psychiatric hospital budgets starts in 2019 below a level of funding required to fulfil staffing regulations. This would perpetuate inadequately funded structures and should initially be opposed with a demand for complete fulfilment of staffing regulations. Thereafter, a normative consent should be reached to define the resources required for current inpatient mental health care.

Determinants of per diem Hospital Costs in Mental Health

INTRODUCTION

An understanding of differences in hospital costs between patient groups is relevant for the efficient organisation of inpatient care. The main aim of this study was to confirm the hypothesis that eight a priori identified cost drivers influence per diem hospital costs. A second aim was to explore further variables that might influence hospital costs.

METHODS

The study included 667 inpatient episodes consecutively discharged in 2014 at the psychiatric hospital of the Medical Centre-University of Freiburg. Fifty-one patient characteristics were analysed. Per diem costs were calculated from the hospital perspective based on a detailed documentation of resource use. Mixed-effects maximum likelihood regression and an ensemble of conditional inference trees were used to analyse data.

RESULTS

The study confirmed the a priori hypothesis that not being of middle age (33-64 years), danger to self, involuntary admission, problems in the activities of daily living, the presence of delusional symptoms, the presence of affective symptoms, short length of stay and the discharging ward affect per diem hospital costs. A patient classification system for prospective per diem payment was suggested with the highest per diem hospital costs in episodes having both delusional symptoms and involuntary admissions and the lowest hospital costs in episodes having neither delusional symptoms nor somatic comorbidities.

CONCLUSION

Although reliable cost drivers were identified, idiosyncrasies of mental health care complicated the identification of clear and consistent differences in hospital costs between patient groups. Further research could greatly inform current discussions about inpatient mental health reimbursement, in particular with multicentre studies that might find algorithms to split patients in more resource-homogeneous groups.

Cost drivers of inpatient mental health care: a systematic review

Aims. New reimbursement schemes for inpatient mental health care are imminent in the UK and Germany. The shared intention is to reflect cost differences between patients in reimbursement rates. This requires understanding of patient characteristics that influence hospital resource use. The aim of this review was to show which associations between mental health care per diem hospital costs and patient characteristics are supported by current evidence. Methods. A systematic review of the literature published between 1980 and 2012 was carried out. The search strategy included electronic databases and hand-searching. Furthermore, reference lists, citing articles and related publications were screened and experts were contacted. Results. The search found eight studies. Dispersion in per diem costs was moderate, as was the ability to explain it with patient characteristics. Six patient characteristics were identified as the most relevant variables. These were (1) age, (2) major diagnostic group, (3) risk, (4) legal problems, (5) the ability to perform activities of daily living and (6) presence of psychotic or affective symptoms. Two non-patient-related factors were identified. These were (1) day of stay and (2) treatment site. Conclusions. Idiosyncrasies of mental health care complicated the prediction of per diem hospital costs. More research is required in European settings since transferability of results is unlikely.