Headlined “Who wins or loses under prospective pay? The decision could be arbitrary,” the cover story offered an in-depth analysis of what executives might expect under the brand new system of diagnosis-related groups of illnesses, or DRGs.

The story begins, “Hospital administrators are plowing through 138 pages of fine print in the Federal Register, trying to determine how their hospitals will fare under Medicare's prospective payment system. Many are finding that arbitrary distinctions—like geographic boundaries—rather than good management will have a major effect on how well their hospitals hold up under the new scheme.”