Glossary

On this page we define some terms which we use which might not be familiar. For more complete information, please follow the "Catalog/Manual/Reference" link.

DAE: DRG Assignment Engine, our core technology which is the basis of most of our product line. The DAE takes as input the five arguments required to assign a DRG and gives as output the DRG; it also returns a number of additional values. See tech blog postings with the label "DAE outputs" for details.

DAS: DRG Assignment Service, our service for customers who do not need or want to install software. You send us your data, hopefully cleansed of PHI, and we send back the corresponding DRGs in forms suitable for loading into spreadsheets or databases.

DRG Algorithm: the particular algorithm used to assign DRGs. We support the US Federal (aka HCFA, CMS or MS) algorithm. In the past, we have supported the New York state algorithm and a few others, but we no longer do that.

F10, F28, Etc: Our version numbers consist of a leading F for Federal and a two digit number which is the release number of the DRG algorithm, as determined by the Federal releases every October.

    The Federal government's version 1 was experimental; version 2 was the first working version. We have in-house implementations for earlier versions, but we only sell and support from version 10 and up. If you really need a version 3 grouper, we can probably help you, but it would be a custom job.

    For more information about our version numbers, please see our tech support page on our web site and follow the "how to pick a version" link.

Logic: the rules used to assign DRGs. These change with every annual release by the US Federal government. We encode these rules in our DAE software.

Masks: the Diagnosis- or Procedure-specific attributes used to help assign DRGs, eg "female only". These change with every annual release by the US Federal government. We encode these attributes in "masks files"