G-DRG system 2008 - Changes relevant for neurology

The G-DRG system 2008 once again brings about many economic changes for the neurological departments in Germany. The German Neurological Society (DGN) has collected data from hospitals and contributed to the further development of the G-DRG system in a data-driven way by a multitude of recommendations. The following article presents the major general and specific changes in the G-DRG system, in the classification systems for diagnoses and procedures as well as for the billing process for 2008. Being only a tool for the redistribution of resources, every hospital has to analyse the economic effects of the new G-DRG system by applying the G-DRG transition grouper to its own cases. Depending on their clinical focus, neurological departments may experience positive or negative consequences of the new system. The strains opposed on the hospitals by the inadequate refunding of the rising costs have to be assessed separately from the effects of redistribution by the G-DRG system.