Factors influencing health insurance patients hospitalization expenses for three disease entities

Objective To identify the chief factors influencing health insurance patients' hospitali-zation expenses so as to provide basis for the control of irrational increase in medical expenses and reform in the mode of medical insurance payment. Methods All the medical insurance cases involving the three disease entities in two hospitals of a certain city for the past three years, which totaled 647, were collected and a statistical analysis was made of the possible influencing factors using multi-stepwise regression analysis. Results The factors influencing the health insurance patients' hospitalization expenses included choice of hospitals, length of stay, performance of operations, proportion of drug fees, and province- wide readjustment of medical service prices. Reducing length of stay and lowering proportion of drug fees were the key to controlling expenses. Conclusion It is imperative to formulate scientific diagnostic and treatment routines and expense standards for single disease entities, speed up and deepen reform in the medical insurance system, and, on the basis of trying out payment based on certain single disease entities, implement payment based on disease entities.