Objectives This paper explores the possibilities and limitations of obtaining and interpreting efficiency measurement on the level of the clinical department. We discuss the limitations of case-mix groupings such as the diagnosis related groups on this level.Methods Hospital costs are allocated...

Objective Targeting hospital treatment at patients with high priority would seem to be a natural policy response to the growing gap between what can be done and what can be financed in the specialist health care sector. The paper examines the distributional consequences of this policy.Method...