Abstract:
New Methods of Hospital Performance Comparison

Abstract (English)

The implementation of DRG systems (DRG = Diagnosis Related Groups) and most various data collections from hospitals have made available large amounts of medico-economic data. Such data, however, may only serve as a basis for managerial and political decision-making if they can be viewed, compared and assessed in context. The graphic methods presented in this book are intended to contribute to this discussion and to underpin the economic assessment of hospitals.

At the beginning of the book, a comprehensive example of a hospital performance comparison is presented and commented upon. Further chapters explain the three steps that are necessary for hospitals to be compared with each other. These are based on the following working questions:

1. How can a hospital be described?
2. How can similar hospitals be discovered?
3. What indicators and graphs allow for comparisons between hospitals that provide a genuine basis for discussion?

Since there is no one single indicator with which a hospital can be assessed adequately, a set of relevant indicators was established. Some of the graphs used were developed specially, thus the «difference diagram», whose smallest unit makes it possible to display the positions and the comparison of three values and the «sequence diagram», which indicates the positions and the changes in several consecutive values with minimum space requirements. A hospital map was drawn up which employs spatial metaphors such as are used in geographical maps. On the hospital map, those hospitals which show a similar casemix are situated close to each other. Moreover, graphic techniques were used which are already well-known in other spheres, in particular mosaic displays, trellis displays (lattice graphics), and treemaps.