Essay ethics) An HMO medical program began reimbursing hospitals ac¬ cording to diagnostic-related groups (DRGs). Each DRG has a specified stan¬ dard "length of stay.” If a patient leaves the hospital early, the hospital is favorably financially impacted, but a patient staying longer than the specified time costs the hospital money.

a. From the hospital administrator’s point of view, would you want favor¬ able length-of-stay variances? How might you go about trying to obtain such variances?

b. From a patient's point of view, would you want favorable length-of-stay variances? Answer this question from the point of view of (1) a patient who has had minor surgery and (2) a patient who has had major surgery.

c. Would favorable length-of-stay variances necessarily equate to high- quality care?

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