Paying for the quantity and quality of hospital care : the foundations and evolution of payment policy in England

Prospective payment arrangements are now the main form of hospital funding in most developed countries. An essential component of such arrangements is the classification system used to differentiate patients according to their expected resource requirements. In this article we describe the evolution and structure of Healthcare Resource Groups (HRGs) in England and the way in which costs are calculated for patients allocated to each HRG. We then describe how payments are made, how policy has evolved to incentivise improvements in quality, and how prospective payment is being applied outside hospital settings

Hospital accounting and the history of health-care rationing

Focussing on the period from 1948 to 1997, this paper examines the history of rationing in the British National Health Service (NHS), with special reference to the role of hospital accounting in this context. The paper suggests that concerns regarding rationing first emerged in the 1960s and 1970s in response to the application of economic theories to the health services, and that rationing only became an issue of wider concern when the NHS increasingly came to resemble economic models of health services in the early 1990s. The paper moreover argues that, unlike in the USA, hospital accounting did not play a significant role in allocating or withholding health resources in Britain. Rudimentary information systems as well as resistance from medical professionals are identified as significant factors in this context

Benefits of using healthcare resource groups Good practice guidance based on the experience of four hospitals

Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6219.13802(11) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

The use of HRGs in clinical audit and clinical effectiveness

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6219.13802(19) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Healthcare Resource Groups How they should be used; a discussion document

Information; Version 1SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPE/0531 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

What's the difference? A comparison of Healthcare Resource Groups and Diagnosis Related Groups

Information; Version 1Available from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPE/0530 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreSIGLEGBUnited Kingdo

The value of casemix information in the management of radiography, pathology and theatre departments

InformationSIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:6219.13802(18) / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

The grouping philosophy of the NCMO and how it relates to the needs of the NHS A discussion document

Information; Version 1SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPE/0529 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Mental health Casemix, Outcome, Resources, Needs; summary report

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre-DSC:GPE/1789 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo