Casemix issues for nursing.

The diagnosis-related groups (DRGs) patient classification system provides information about the type and volume of acute inpatients treated, as well as the length of stay and cost of treatment. Nurses have been involved in casemix development in Australia, providing advice to government departments on nursing issues; researching the relative cost of nursing patients in one diagnosis-related group compared with another; budgeting nursing resources for casemix treated; and using casemix information to change practices to achieve more efficient use of resources and maintain quality of care. Casemix information allows nurses to contribute to the management of clinical services in partnership with other clinicians and managers.