Casemix update: australian critical care costs and service weights: part 2.

In Part 1 of this report (Australian Critical Care 8(4):10-12) the background, methods and main results of the National Critical Care Service Weights Study were presented. The purpose of this part of the report is to present the costs and corresponding service weights for some of the common and high-cost DRGs (diagnosis related groups) seen in each type of unit. Finally, the implications of the results and the limitations of the study will be discussed. The national study included 20 public hospital adult intensive care units (ICUs), eight private hospital adult ICUs, five coronary care units, four paediatric ICUs and seven neonatal ICUs. The units which contributed patient data to the study were randomly selected from units across the country and agreed to participate in the study. Some randomly selected units declined to participate in the study.