Convergent Validity of 2 Widely Used Methodologies for Calculating the Hospital Standardized Mortality Ratio in Flanders, Belgium.

Objectives: To assess their construct validity, we compared results from 2 models used for estimating hospital standardized mortality ratios (HSMRs) in Belgium. The method of the Flemish Hospital Network (FHN) is based on a logistic regression for each of the 64 All Patient Refined Diagnosis-Related Groups that explain 80% of mortality and uses the Elixhauser score to correct for comorbidities. (H)SMRs published on the 3M-Benchmark-Portal are calculated by a simpler indirect standardization for All Patient Refined Diagnosis-Related Groups and risk of mortality (ROM) at discharge.

Unwarranted Between-hospital Variation in Mortality, Readmission, and Length of Stay of Urological Admissions: An Important Trigger for Prioritising Quality Targets.

Background: Unwarranted between-hospital variation is a persistent health care quality issue. It is unknown whether urology patients are prone to this variation.

Objective: To examine between-hospital variation in mortality, readmission, and length of stay for all 22 urological All Patient Refined Diagnosis Related Groups (APR-DRGs).

Predictors of survival after surgery with curative intent for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma.

Background: Several clinicopathological predictors of survival after curative surgery for perihilar cholangiocarcinoma (pCCA) have been identified; however, conflicting reports remain. The aim was to analyse clinical and oncological outcomes after curative resection of pCCA and to determine prognostic factors.

Methods: Eighty-eight consecutive patients with pCCA underwent surgery with curative intent between 1998 and 2017.

Standardised mortality ratios as a user-friendly performance metric and trigger for quality improvement in a Flemish hospital network: multicentre retrospective study.

Objective: To illustrate the development and use of standardised mortality rates (SMRs) as a trigger for quality improvement in a network of 27 hospitals.

Design: This research was a retrospective observational study. The primary outcome was in-hospital mortality.

Development and validation of nursing resource weights for the Belgian Nursing Minimum Dataset in general hospitals: a Delphi questionnaire survey approach.

Background: Internationally, nursing is not well represented in hospital financing systems. In Belgium a nursing weight system exists to adjust budget allocation for differences in nurse staffing requirements, but there is a need for revision. Arguments include the availability of a nursing minimum dataset and the adverse consequences of the current historically based nursing weight system.

Adjusting for nursing care case mix in hospital reimbursement: a review of international practice.

The purpose of this study was to examine and review the different ways in which nursing care can be accounted for in a general hospital reimbursement system. The study is based on a literature review and a survey of international experts. It provides a typology of nursing care adjustment methods, using current and past practices of 14 Western countries as key examples.