Short Info: SQLape (Switzerland)

SQLape was developed in Western Switzerland by Yves Eggli, and is available in an operational version since 2005. Compared to the established DRG systems, the SQLape system uses a different classification concept. As in DRG systems, only one cost weight results for each hospital stay. Yet the SQLape system functions with a number of patient groups which is clearly lower than the number of DRGs in DRG systems, that is to say with only about 350 SQLape categories compared with 640 to more than 1200 DRGs. This is possible because only treatments and diseases are represented by SQLape categories but not severity degrees. Instead of severity categories (e. g. DRGs with or without CC) more than one SQLape category can be assigned to one hospital stay. Furthermore, the main diagnosis does not decide the attribution of a primary patient category, but it is used the same way as all secondary diagnoses.

If a hospital case is assigned to several SQLape categories, the system marks the first group assigned following the the grouping hierarchy as "primary" SQLape category.