Monitoring a patient's prognosis for recovery becomes important in which type of utilization review?

Rationale:

A. Total number of inpatient days incurred by a population over a given period of time: "Days of care" refers to the total number of days that all inpatients collectively spend in hospitals over a specified period, such as a month or a year. It is a measure of the volume of inpatient services provided.

B. The number of days a patient stays in a hospital: While this answer describes the duration of an individual patient's hospital stay, it does not encompass the concept of "days of care," which refers to the aggregate total of inpatient days across all patients.

C. The total number of patients admitted: This answer refers to the number of patients admitted to a hospital but does not capture the concept of "days of care," which measures the duration of inpatient stays.

D. The length of time patients are treated in a clinic: This answer describes the duration of

treatment in a clinic setting, which is different from the concept of "days of care" in the context of inpatient hospital services.

Rationale:

A. Technology: While technological advancements may have influenced healthcare delivery, they did not directly trigger hospital downsizing in the 1980s.

B. Hill-Burton Act (1946): The Hill-Burton Act provided federal funding for hospital construction and modernization, which typically led to expansion rather than downsizing of hospitals.

C. Covid-19: Covid-19 emerged long after the 1980s and is not related to the hospital downsizing trends of that decade.

D. Prospective Payment System (PPS): The implementation of the Prospective Payment System (PPS) in the 1980s, particularly for Medicare reimbursements, shifted hospital reimbursement from fee-for-service to a predetermined payment based on diagnosis-related groups (DRGs).

This change incentivized hospitals to become more efficient and led to downsizing, closure of underutilized facilities, and consolidation of services.