Incorporating nursing complexity in reimbursement coding systems: the potential impact on missed care

Introduction 

Globally, nurses constitute the largest segment of healthcare professionals; therefore, they are also the most expensive, and in a hospital these costs can reach 25% of the total expenditure.1 When costs are calculated, usually the monthly sum of nursing working hours and nursing labour costs is divided by the total number of patient days to produce mean general measures such as 'nursing hours per patient' or 'nursing costs per patient day.' This is only a general average cost calculation that takes into account large groups of nurses caring for large groups of patients, but through this system it is difficult to accurately control costs if the specific costs are unknown.2 In this regard, Needleman3 pointed to the 'invisibility' of a significant portion of nursing today, which explains why this discipline in many countries around the world is still not fully recognised by...

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