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Biomedical subjects

H B Bolley

Publications and source records attributed to H B Bolley.

4 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1994

Physicians in health care management: 6. Physician *bytes* computer.

Revolutionary advancements in information technology are improving access to medical information, operational efficiency and clinical effectiveness. Health care facilities and agencies are planning to acquire information systems that will affect clinical and administrative functions. Federal and provincial agencies are beginning to define and collect diverse health care data and integrate them in a national database. As the demand for and access to information grows physicians will be key providers and users. They will have increasing access to critical patient data through clinical information systems; however, their practice patterns, clinical outcomes and resource utilization will also be subject to increasing scrutiny. To ensure appropriate use of technology and information systems, careful planning, selection, implementation and management will be needed. Physicians will require training to use the information and systems effectively. They must also recognize the increasing importance of such systems in delivering and managing health care; they must play a pivotal role in resolving management, information and systems issues and in promoting sound information and management strategies; and they must encourage research and education in medical informatics.

Attitude to Computers↗
PubMed1994

Two methods for allocating pharmacy cost per patient case.

The consequences of two different methods of allocating pharmacy costs per patient case were studied. The study was conducted using cost data from Sunnybrook Health Science Centre (SHSC), a 1205-bed teaching hospital in Toronto, Canada. A sample of the 1991-1992 cases for the three case mix groups (CMGs) with the highest total pharmacy cost and the three CMGs with the highest pharmacy cost per case were examined. Information was obtained from patient records and used to produce two sets of data: pharmacy prescription unit costs and pharmacy costs per case using the relative value unit (RVU) method, and pharmacy prescription unit costs and pharmacy costs per case using the workload measurement system (WMS) method. For each case, the difference between the RVU and WMS pharmacy costs was determined. The RVU method consistently produced higher pharmacy costs per case for the CMGs with the highest pharmacy cost per case. If these CMGs are typical of other CMGs with high pharmacy costs per case, then case reimbursement based on the WMS method of cost allocation would result in underfunding of hospitals whose case mix has a high proportion of CMGs with high pharmacy costs per case and overfunding of hospitals whose case mix has a high proportion of CMGs with low pharmacy costs per case. However, the RVU method of cost allocation, although it appears to be more accurate, places a greater data collection burden on pharmacy managers. The RVU and WMS methods of pharmacy cost allocation gave significantly different pharmacy costs per case for the six CMGs studied.

Cost Allocation↗
PubMed1994

Physicians in health care management: 4. Case Mix Groups and Resource Intensity Weights: physicians and hospital funding.

In the second of two articles on Case Mix Groups (CMGs) and Resource Intensity Weights (RIWs) the authors describe how these measures are used to adjust the funding of hospitals in Ontario. Because CMGs and RIWs are based on medical chart information concerning diagnoses, concurrent illnesses and main procedures the role of physicians in recording this information is important to the outcome for hospital funding. CMGs and RIWs provide the basis for the calculations of the average cost per weighted case for hospitals and for groups of comparable hospitals. The Ontario Ministry of Health originally gave equity adjustment payments to hospitals with low average costs per weighted case to raise their funding toward norms of comparable hospitals. However, it is now proposed that hospitals with high average costs per weighted case be targeted for budget cuts. In the face of greater case-mix-based hospital funding in the future physician recording of information will be ever more critical.

Delivery of Health Care↗
PubMed1994

Physicians in health care management: 3. Case Mix Groups and Resource Intensity Weights: an overview for physicians.

In the first of two articles on the subject, the authors explain what Case Mix Groups (CMGs) and Resource Intensity Weights (RIWs) are and how they are used. The former categorize hospital patients into groups. The latter are ratios showing the relative use of hospital resources for a typical case (successful course of treatment in an acute care hospital and discharge when the patient no longer requires the hospital's services) and atypical cases (death, transfer, sign-out and substantially longer than average stay) in each CMG. As such, CMGs and RIWs define the relation between the medical and financial dimensions of hospital cases for use in planning and management. Ontario and Alberta are the first provinces to use them to adjust hospital funding. CMGs are limited by the number of diagnoses contained in each category, and RIWs are limited by the use of New York cost data due to the lack of Canadian data.

Algorithms↗