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MORE ABOUT CODING 9 Aug 98 Medicare's Prospective Payment System (PPS) at present applies to hospital inpatient care. Each patient is assigned by a Coder to a specific Diagnosis-Related Group (DRG) which determines how much that hospital will be paid by Medicare for that patient's care. The DRG code is used also by some state Medicaid programs, some commercial insurance plans, and most Champus coverage. Some non-Medicare inpatient coverage not dependent on DRGs includes HMOs, indemnity insurance, managed care plans, etc. Medicare plans to extend the PPS to cover outpatient services. Meanwhile, they use at least six different systems to determine payment. Instead of the DRG, they generally pay according to each procedure that is performed, which seems to be a more rational approach. I suspect that most of the U.S. listmembers are eligible for Medicare benefits. Although services and procedures related to PD should rarely require a hospital stay, they tend to be costly, so a decision by Medicare on what they will or will not pay for could be very important. So far I've seen no response to my earlier inquiry: Can anyone here enlighten us about this important subject? Cheers, Joe -- J. R. Bruman (818) 789-3694 3527 Cody Road Sherman Oaks, CA 91403-5013