Vitacca M, Paneroni M, Ambrosino N. Rehabilitation complexity scale and reimbursement of in-hospital pulmonary rehabilitation.
Multidiscip Respir Med 2023;
18:936. [PMID:
38155705 PMCID:
PMC10726991 DOI:
10.4081/mrm.2023.936]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/20/2023] [Accepted: 10/24/2023] [Indexed: 12/30/2023] Open
Abstract
Background
The use of case-based reimbursement for medical rehabilitation is greatly discussed. The investigators explored the relationship between disability and reimbursement opportunities in individuals with respiratory diseases undergoing in-hospital pulmonary rehabilitation (PR), considering the correlation (if any) between the Rehabilitation Complexity Scale (RCS-E v13) scores used at admission and the actual reimbursement.
Methods
This study is part of a larger prospective multicenter study conducted by eight Pulmonary Rehabilitation Units in Italy. Here, investigators considered only data from the Lombardy Region. On January 30th or February 28th, 2023, participants were allocated according to the main DRG into 4 groups [tracheostomized/ventilated (TX/V), chronic respiratory failure (CRF), COPD, and miscellaneous group]. We recorded anthropometrics, diagnosis, international outcome measures, and calculated admission and discharge RCS-E v13 scores and hospital stay reimbursement according to the healthcare system (HS).
Results
Three hundred and sixteen participants were evaluated. Patients were elderly, in the majority of cases with CRF, presenting comorbidities, disability, dyspnea, and reduced effort tolerance. At admission, RCS-E v13 showed an average moderate value of complexity. The median (IQR) HS reimbursement/stay was different among groups. RCSE v13 evaluated at admission was weakly (r=0.3471), but significantly related to the HS reimbursement/stay (p<0.0001) mainly due to TX/V and miscellaneous subgroups, while no relationship was found for COPD and CRF patients. After PR, all outcome measures improved significantly in all groups (p<0.001 for all). Higher RCS-E v13 scores at admission did not correspond to a proper amount of reimbursement, being this latter under- or over-estimated if compared to needs assessed by RCS-E v13. RCS-E v13 at discharge decreased for all subgroups (range from -6 to -11) reaching a low value of complexity.
Conclusions
The RCS-E v13 disability score does not fully mirror the HS reimbursement for patients undergoing inhospital PR.
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