Medicare severity diagnosis-related groups (MS-DRGs) will be implemented for discharges occurring on or after Oct. 1, 2007, as was announced in the inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) final rule. As stated in the rule, MS-DRGs are intended to be a substantial improvement over the current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services DRGs in their ability to differentiate cases based on severity of illness and resource consumption. As developed, the MS-DRGs increase the number of DRGs by 207. Access complete information on MS-DRGs from the CMS acute IPPS web site.
