Background: The prospective reimbursement of hospitals through the grouping of patients into a finite number of categories (Diagnosis Related Groups, DRGs), is common to many European countries. However, the specific categories used vary greatly across countries, using different characteristics...

Aims: Dental services differ from other health services in several dimensions. One important difference is that a substantial share of costs of dental services-especially costs beyond routine dental treatment-is paid directly by the patient out-of-pocket. Settings and design: This study analyses...