DEVELOPMENT OF AN-DRGS - MEETING THE CONCERNS OF CLINICIAN

The diagnosis-related group (DRG) classification has been the centre o f Commonwealth and various State initiatives to modify significantly t he basis for funding of public hospitals in Australia. The classificat ion has been extensively criticised by Australian clinicians as being out of date and inappropriate for several areas of medicine. Developme nts in Australia to improve the DRGs classification have led to the Au stralian national version, AN-DRGs. The differentiating features of AN -DRGs are summarised and priority areas for further development are su ggested. Further substantial improvement in the classification can be obtained only if new approaches to classification design are considere d and if it is supplemented by measures of severity of illness.