Research hotspots of DRGs based on co-word cluster analysis

Abstract

Objective To reveal the research hotspots and development trend of DRGs based on literature, and to provide a basis for domestic scholars and hospitals. Methods Literature review was made in database CNKI and Wanfang database, using DRGs and its co-words (both Chinese and English) to retrieve literatures published before April 2017, and describing such distribution as paper publication year, journal, and first author. Co-word cluster analysis was then performed on the co-occurrence matrix of high frequency keywords to reveal the research hotspots and development trends in line with the subject strategic diagram. Results 2 594 papers were retrieved and 1 303 of them were retained with those redundant and irrelevant bibliographies excluded. Observation of the distribution of the year, journal and first author revealed that papers in DRGs field were in rapid growth, while the journals and first authors were distributed evenly. These literature focused on eight research hotspots, namely medical insurance payment system, medical quality and efficiency, hospital management, DRGs payment, case-mix, coding uniformity, medical records management, and evaluation system. In the subject strategic diagram, medical insurance payment system, medical quality and efficiency were placed in the fourth quadrant, the DRGs payment, case-mix, coding uniformity in the first quadrant, hotspot coding uniformity in the second, and the last two hotspots were in the third. Conclusions DRGs has attracted attention of many scholars and institutions in China, as evidenced by numerous articles published in various journals. These articles covered a wide range of topics, and were in different development stages. Researchers should keep an eye on progress of mature themes, and promote practical exploration of immature topics. Key words: Diagnosis-related groups; Research hotspot; Co-word cluster analysis; Subject strategic diagram; Distribution