Editing Case mix (section)

==Background==
Prior to the introduction of nationally consistent Activity Based Funding (ABF) by the Commonwealth Government, Casemix based funding was the key funding model used in Australian health care services for reimbursement of the cost of patient care.

In the Netherlands, the casemix system is called a "DBC" (Dutch:''Diagnosebehandelcombinatie''), and can be defined as a predefined average care package, which is applied with a fixed price when a specific diagnosis occurs.<ref name=DBC>[http://www.dbconderhoud.nl/Over-de-DBC-systematiek/Information-in-english DBC website]</ref>

Casemix is a system that measures hospital performance, aiming to reward initiatives that increase efficiency in hospitals. It also serves as an information tool that allows [[policy maker]]s to understand the nature and complexity of [[health care]] delivery.

[[Diagnosis-related group|Diagnosis-Related Groups]] (DRGs) is the best-known classification system that is used in this funding model. It classifies acute inpatient episodes into a number of manageable categories based on clinical condition and resource consumption.  A single acute episode of inpatient care is allocated to one DRG using coded clinical information derived from the patient’s medical record. This information is coded by the Health Information Managers in order to allocate a DRG.  Each DRG is allocated a ‘weight’, which is dependent on the average cost of inputs (e.g. nursing, diagnostic services, procedures) required to achieve the appropriate patient outcome. The facility is reimbursed a predetermined amount for each patient episode.