DO YOU UNDERSTAND THE BUSINESS OF HEALTHCARE?

The following are common terms used in the NHS to describe the business of healthcare. This is the 'currency' of hospital management. I wondered whether you, a consultant colleague, shares this understanding and would be grateful for a moment of your time to complete the following true/false questions.

PLEASE LEAVE THE QUESTION BLANK IF YOU REALLY DO NOT KNOW THE ANSWER.

David O'Regan MBA, MD, FRCS C-Th


Place of Work
Leeds General Infirmary
St. James's University Hospital
Chapel Allerton Hospital
Wharfedale General Hospital
Chapel Allerton Hospital
Other


Specialty
Oncology and Surgery Division
Specialist Surgery Division
Medicine Division
Women's, Children's, Head and Neck and Dental Division
Clinical Support Services Division


Number of years practicing as a consultant
0-5 years
6-10 years
11-15 years
16-20 years
21-25 years


HRGS

HRGs stands for Hospital Resource Group
True
False


HRGs include a collection of similar clinical codes/diagnoses
True
False


HRGs are a currency used by the hospital for billing
True
False


Performance related pay is based on HRGs
True
False


HRGs are determined by length of stay
True
False


HRGs reflect similar activities
True
False


HRGs are determined by age and sex
True
False


SPELLS

A spell is the length of time a patient spends under a consultant
True
False


A spell includes transfers between hospital sites in the same Trust.
True
False


A spell is the difference between admission date and discharge date for a patient in the same hospital
True
False


A spell is the difference between admission date and discharge date for a patient in the same Trust
True
False


A spell includes the whole admission, no matter how many consultants have seen the patient
True
False


PBR tariff is based on the spell
True
False


FINISHED CONSULTANT FCEs

FCE stands for Final Consultant Episode
True
False


FCE is the length of time spent under the care of one consultant
True
False


FCE is the currency used to describe inpatient activity
True
False


Costs and income are attributed to you, as the consultant, by FCEs
True
False


The following constitutes an FCE

Patient admitted to the ward, seen by a consultant and discharged the same day
True
False


A consultant attended to a patient on another ward at the request of another consultant or member of staff
True
False


A consultant takes over the treatment of a patient and hands the patient back to the original consultant
True
False


A patient is transferred to another ward under the same consultant is regarded as 2 FCEs
True
False


A patient transferred from one ward to another ward under another consultant is one FCE
True
False


Every patient seen in outpatients is an FCE
True
False


A patient attending the ward for review and seen by a consultant is an FCE
True
False


FCE is the only currency used for billing
True
False





David
Professor in the Medical Education and Research Unit of the Faculty or Medicine at the University of Malaya