What does it mean when DRGs 767 and 768 are missing?

Hospital price comparison web sites typically report the number of procedures performed, average length of stay and a cost range for those procedures so that consumers can make informed decisions about where to seek care they can afford. These sites often share only the top 50 Diagnosis Related Groups, or DRGs. Childbirth, whether vaginal or by cesarean section, always makes the top 50 list. However, two DRGs in Major Diagnosis Category 14, Pregnancy, Childbirth And Puerperium, are so infrequently performed that they do not rank in any top DRG reports.

On this site and its accompanying materials, the proportion of cesarean sections is calculated by dividing the sum of cesarean sections with and without complications (MS-DRGs 765-766) by the sum of the only MS-DRGs accessible in the public domain in this state (MS-DRGs 774-775 and 765-766). The denominator should include all deliveries (MS-DRG 765-768 and 774-775).

According the most recent report available online (http://www.hcup-us.ahrq.gov/reports/statbriefs/sb110.jsp), MS-DRGs 767 and 768 accounted for 3.6% of all deliveries in 2008, meaning that the denominator should be slightly higher if 767 and 768 and therefore the calculated proportion would be slightly lower.

Diagnosis Related Groups (DRGs)

765 - C-section with complication

766 - C-section without complication

767 - Vaginal delivery with sterilization &/or dilation and curettage (D&C)

768 - Vaginal delivery with operating room procedure except sterilization and/or D&C

774 - Vaginal delivery with complication

775 - Vaginal delivery without complication