Through publication of this report, Kentucky’s hospitals continue their commitment to helping the public better understand the health care delivery system and cost of health care services. The Kentucky Hospital Association collects billing data from all Kentucky acute care hospitals for all patients who were admitted for inpatient care. Hospitals report data on a quarterly basis. This report covers inpatient discharges at Kentucky’s acute care hospitals for the most recent 12 month period where quarterly data has been finalized.
The data provided to KHA by Kentucky hospitals is grouped into illness categories, called Diagnosis Related Groups, or MSDRGs. MSDRGs group similar patients requiring similar hospital resources to take care of them, and similar anticipated lengths of stay. Each patient admitted to the hospital gets assigned one DRG for that visit. It is based on a number of factors: the main diagnosis for the admission, along with other conditions noted, procedures performed, and age of patient. Other conditions that can influence the MSDRG assigned are complications and co-morbidities that cause the hospital stay to be longer in many persons. Providing information about MSDRGs can give you an idea about the types of cases that particular hospitals are seeing.
This report includes median hospital charge information for discharges falling within a given severity level for a diagnostic condition (MSDRG). The policy and setting of charges is determined by individual hospital. While charges are what the hospital reports on the billing form, they may not accurately represent the amount a hospital receives in payment for the services it delivers. However, hospital charges are used almost universally by those attempting to assess the costs of health care. Hospital charge data does not include separate physician charges.