Objective: to identify by gender and age group, the hospital expenditures of the diseases that have the major economic impact at Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social through using the diagnosis related groups (DRG) classification system and by estimating their associated costs.
Methods: DRG system served to estimate hospital expenditures for five diseases: hypertension, type 2 diabetes, chronic renal failure, cervical cancer and HIV/AIDS. DRG allow for better estimation given that consider cost adjustment based on the amount of resources employed in the treatment of different episodes.
Results: in the year 2002, 6.7 % of the hospital budget was assigned to the care of these five diseases. 42.6 % of the expenditures were allocated to patients aged 60 years and older and 22.3 % to patients from 50 to 59 years of age. Regarding diabetes mellitus and hypertension, care to patients over the age of 60 reached values of 55 % and 57 % of hospital expenditures respectively. Chronic renal failure and cervical cancer reached 60.5 % and 72.8 % of the expenditures, which were concentrated in patients aged 59 years or less; HIV/AIDS expenditures were distributed among patients from 20 to 50 years of age, the highest percentage (41.7 %) was in the group of 30 to 39 years of age.
Conclusions: It is relevant to develop classification and information tools that consider the type of patients receiving hospital care, that are able to monitor changes due to the demographic and epidemiologic transition processes, and that allow for sensitive outcomes measurement. These tools will help in achieving an adequate financing and planning of health expenditures.