The development of one-day surgical care in Hungary between 2010 and 2019

Background The constant increase in the utilization of one-day surgical care could be identified since more than a decade in most of European countries. Initially, according to the international rankings, the exploitation of one-day surgery in Hungary was not really significant. In 2010, the Hungarian policy makers intended to increase one-day surgical care as a priority strategy. The aim of our study was to analyze the evolution of the Hungarian one-day surgical care during the last decade in DRG- based performance financing system in Hungary. Methods The dataset of the research was provided by the National Health Insurance Fund Administration of Hungary. The most important indicators related to the one-day surgical care were compared to inpatient care (market share, number of cases, and DRG cost-weights). To discover the impact of one-day surgical care to the utilization of inpatient treatment, the number of hospitalized days was also analyzed. Results Between 2010 and 2019, the market share of one-day surgical cases increased from 42, to 80%. Simultaneously the constant increase of one-day surgical cases, the number of hospitalized days were decreased in inpatient care by 17%. The value of Case Mix Index has also increased, approximately by 140%, which could confirm that more complex interventions are being conducted in one-day surgical care as well. Conclusions Due to the comprehensive health policy strategy related to the dissemination of one-day surgical care in Hungary, several important performance indicators were improved between 2010 and 2019. Given that Hungary belongs to the low- and middle-income countries, the results of the study could be considerable even in an international comparison.