The high cost of hospital trauma care: an analysis of hospital length of stay, injury severity score, case mix index, and reimbursement-to-cost ratio.

We conducted a study to evaluate reimbursement characteristics for an urban hospital providing a high volume of trauma care. Complete clinical and financial data for 209 trauma patients admitted to the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center during September 1990 were entered into a trauma registry. Patients were categorized into three groups. Group 1 fulfilled criteria for reimbursement using the New York State Major Diagnostic Category 25 (NYSMDC 25) for trauma. Group 2 patients fulfilled New York City Emergency Medical Service 911 criteria for transport to a level 1 trauma center. Group 3 patients did not fit either category. Analysis included age, race, sex, length of stay, injury severity score, case mix index, payer source, and reimbursement-to-cost ratio. Of the patients studied, 77.5% were men. Hispanic, African-American, and white patients constituted 40.2%, 26.3%, and 17.2%, respectively, of the study population. The payer mix was 36.6% Medicaid; 20.8% self-pay; 19.1% no fault; 9.6% Blue Cross; 5.5% Medicare; 5% commercial; and 3.3% other. The study demonstrated that criteria for group 1 and group 2 define patients who constitute a distinct clinical group by injury severity score. As expected, the length of stay and case mix index were significantly higher for group 1, but they did not differ between group 2 and group 3. Group 1 was a small proportion (7.7%) of trauma patients admitted to the Bronx Municipal Hospital Center level 1 trauma center. Trauma admissions were treated at a net loss, with a projected high annual deficit of $5.3 million.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)