Health Systems in Transition - Hungary - World Health Organization ...

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Health systems in transition Hungary 203
Since the introduction of HDGs, however, a better measure of outputs in
acute inpatient care is the total number of HDG points produced by hospitals
(Fig. 7.4). In the HDG system, hospital cases are weighted according to
complexity and costs – bypass surgery, for instance, is assigned more points
than an appendectomy – and these points (not just the number of cases) are
added up. In short, the HDG system considers not just the number, but the
complexity of hospital cases; this is referred to as the case-mix.
Comparing cost (that is, the HIF budget for acute inpatient care at constant
prices) and output, acute inpatient care produced more output in terms of HDG
points from the same budget in 2008 than in 1994 (Fig. 7.5). This also suggests
that, by reducing the cost per unit of output, efficiency in acute hospitals
increased by more than 15% during the period in question.
Fig. 7.4
Sum of HDGs cost weights/points (thousands)
1989
1990 1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Source: Information Centre for Health Care, 2010.
Sum of HDG
cost weights/points
('000)