CRITERIA FOR SELECTION OF A PAYMENT METHOD FOR INPATIENT MEDICAL REHABILITATION

This article presents the results of a 3-stage Delphi survey designed to identify the policy criteria that should govern the evaluation of alternative payment methods and guide the selection of a payment method for inpatient medical rehabilitation, The Delphi survey (n = 85) included four groups of participants: consumers (n = 8), providers (n = 35), payers (n = 15), and health services researchers (n = 27), The Delphi survey uncovered 16 evaluation criteria, Delphi participants evaluated each criterion on a 10-point scale (1 = not important; 10 = greatest importance), Respondents value maximize patient/family outcome, maximize access, and maximize efficiency as the three most important criteria, Respondents report that minimize financial risk is the least important criterion, The results from both stage 2 and stage 3 (response rate = 85%) indicate a high level of consensus across the four respondent groups. (C) 1995 by the American Congress of Rehabilitation Medicine and the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation