NordDRG: a collaboration project before its time

Abstract

The Nordic countries had an early interest in the patient classification system DRG (Diagnosis Related Groups), first introduced in the USA in the early 1980s as the basis for a fixed rate reimbursement system for inpatient care. The national healthcare institutes in Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden exchanged experiences and conducted comparative studies of hospital production data and costs which led to a need to coordinate the national DRG systems. This was achieved when the Nordic WHO-centre for the classification of diseases initiated and carried out a shared Nordic project at the request of the health authorities of the five countries. The project created preconditions for valid comparative studies of hospital productivity and cost efficiency, while tools for medically guided operations management depend on local initiatives with a breakthrough still lacking.