DRG Versions

DRGs are released on a fiscal year starting October 1st, so sometimes it is a little tricky to figure out which DRG version you need.

DRGs are assigned to inpatient hospital stays. Normally the DRG would be assigned when the patient is discharged, so the version you need is generally dictated by the discharge date.

Sometimes, for analysis purposes, the discharge date is overridden so an entire data set can be run through the same version DRGs to allow for easier comparisons. This method is not foolproof: medical records coding practices change over time and DRGs are refined so there is a limited window one can use before the DRGs in the older data stop being meaningful.

We started in the DRG game at the beginning, so we have support for DRGs starting with version 2. (Version 1 was experimental, so version 2 is the first version available for general use.)

With version 33 the underlying coding scheme was switched from ICD9cm to ICD10. This was a watershed for DRG software as much of the internals had to change. Usually a new DRG version requires only modification of existing software components but for ICD10 we had to redesign our software and implement it from scratch. In order to mark the distinction, we changed our version numbers from "f{number}" to "v{number}".

Here is the reference we use internally to keep the versions straight:

+=====+=============+=============++=====+=============+=============+
| Ver |  Released   |   Retired   || Ver |  Released   |   Retired   |
+=====+=============+=============++=====+=============+=============+
| v39 | Oct-01-2021 | Sep-30-2022 || f20 | Oct-01-2002 | Sep-30-2003 |
| v38 | Oct-01-2020 | Sep-30-2021 || f19 | Oct-01-2001 | Sep-30-2002 |
| v37 | Oct-01-2019 | Sep-30-2020 || f18 | Oct-01-2000 | Sep-30-2001 |
| v36 | Oct-01-2018 | Sep-30-2019 || f17 | Oct-01-1999 | Sep-30-2000 |
| v35 | Oct-01-2017 | Sep-30-2018 || f16 | Oct-01-1998 | Sep-30-1999 |
| v34 | Oct-01-2016 | Sep-30-2017 || f15 | Oct-01-1997 | Sep-30-1998 |
| v33 | Oct-01-2015 | Sep-30-2016 || f14 | Oct-01-1996 | Sep-30-1997 |
| f32 | Oct-01-2014 | Sep-30-2015 || f13 | Oct-01-1995 | Sep-30-1996 |
| f31 | Oct-01-2013 | Sep-30-2014 || f12 | Oct-01-1994 | Sep-30-1995 |
| f30 | Oct-01-2012 | Sep-30-2013 || f11 | Oct-01-1993 | Sep-30-1994 |
| f29 | Oct-01-2011 | Sep-30-2012 || f10 | Oct-01-1992 | Sep-30-1993 |
| f28 | Oct-01-2010 | Sep-30-2011 ||  f9 | Oct-01-1991 | Sep-30-1992 |
| f27 | Oct-01-2009 | Sep-30-2010 ||  f8 | Oct-01-1990 | Sep-30-1991 |
| f26 | Oct-01-2008 | Sep-30-2009 ||  f7 | Oct-01-1989 | Sep-30-1990 |
| f25 | Oct-01-2007 | Sep-30-2008 ||  f6 | Oct-01-1988 | Sep-30-1989 |
| f24 | Oct-01-2006 | Sep-30-2007 ||  f5 | Oct-01-1987 | Sep-30-1988 |
| f23 | Oct-01-2005 | Sep-30-2006 ||  f4 | Oct-01-1986 | Sep-30-1987 |
| f22 | Oct-01-2004 | Sep-30-2005 ||  f3 | Oct-01-1985 | Sep-30-1986 |
| f21 | Oct-01-2003 | Sep-30-2004 ||  f2 | Oct-01-1984 | Sep-30-1985 |
+=====+=============+=============++=====+=============+=============+
 NOTES 1. DRG Version f1 was experimental and never released.
       2. DRG Versions f2-f32, inclusive, were based on ICD9cm codes.
       3. Starting with v33, DRG versions are based on ICD10 codes.
       4. DRGFilt dropped support for f2 starting with f27.

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