Calculating DRG payments involves a formula that accounts for the adjustments discussed in the previous section. The DRG weight is multiplied by a “standardized amount,” a figure representing the average price per case for all Medicare cases during the year.

How are APR DRGs calculated?

Just as with MS-DRGs, an APR-DRG payment is calculated by using an assigned numerical weight that is multiplied by a fixed dollar amount specific to each provider. Each base APR-DRG, however, considers severity of illness and risk of mortality instead of being based on a single complication or comorbidity.

How is DRG relative weight calculated?

The DRG relative weights are estimates of the relative resource intensity of each DRG. These weights are computed by estimating the average resource intensity per case for each DRG, measured in dollars, and dividing each of those values by the average resource intensity per case for all DRG’s, also measured in dollars.