From 4 severity levels to 5 complexity levels
INA-CBG uses 4 severity-level codes: "0" for outpatient care, then "I" (Mild), "II" (Moderate), "III" (Severe) for inpatient care. iDRG replaces them with a more granular Complexity Level scale — code 0 (No CC) through 4 (Catastrophic CC), plus merge code 9 — five numeric levels in total.
Higher DRG granularity
More detailed grouping — tariffs depend increasingly on the accuracy of diagnosis, procedure, and severity.
More detailed CC/MCC documentation
Requires complete, consistent recording of complications & comorbidities (CC) and major CC (MCC) in the medical record.
Removing the ward-class variable
iDRG is designed to no longer separate tariffs by hospital class and ward class, but to base them on clinical factors & facility competency instead.