Inpatient Costing In Surgical Intensive Care Unit Of A Tertiary Care Hospital.

Abstract

Title : Inpatient Costing In Surgical Intensive Care Unit Of A Tertiary Care Hospital.

Authors : Dr Inshah Nisar (Post Graduate ),Dr Haroon Rashid (Associate Professor ).

Department name : Department Of Hospital Administration, Sher- I- Kashmir Institute Of Medical Sciences Srinagar, Kashmir.

Background : ICU (intensive care unit) is one of the most resource-consuming wards in hospitals.  However, the cost estimations for ICU stay are heterogeneous.  Also there is a paucity of cost analytical studies from resource constrained developing countries defining intensive care costs and their containment.

Objective : Economic analysis of  total cost incurred per patient per day admitted in SICU which consists of  material (drug and disposable) and  manpower cost.

Participants : Patients admitted under various sub specialities in the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) during the study period.

Study design and methods : A combined retrospective and  prospective study was conducted in  patients admitted in the SICU. Retrospective study was done to study the demographic profile of the patients and prospective study was done to study the inpatient costing of ICU patients.

Results : Calculation for inpatient  cost per patient per day admitted in SICU  revealed that average inpatient  cost per patient per day was Rs 8693.1 .Major portion  65.33% (Rs 5680.1) was accounted for manpower resources while only 34.66%, (Rs 3013.4) per patient per day was constituted for material and drug.

Conclusion : The study concludes that  Intensive care treatment is a costly affair and patients have to spend huge sum on drugs and disposables even though the high cost incurred on manpower being provided free of charges  in government institution.

Implications : There is a need to reduce the burden of the cost of drugs and disposables by introduction of universal insurance based  reimbursement and along  availability of subsidised drug stores in hospitals which will not only reduce the burden on such patients but also help reduce morbidity and mortality of ICU patients.