Premium
Cost‐analysis of neonatal intensive and special care
Author(s) -
TUDEHOPE D. I.,
LEE W.,
HARRIS F.,
ADDISON C.
Publication year - 1989
Publication title -
journal of paediatrics and child health
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.631
H-Index - 76
eISSN - 1440-1754
pISSN - 1034-4810
DOI - 10.1111/j.1440-1754.1989.tb01417.x
Subject(s) - medicine , intensive care , neonatal intensive care unit , intensive care unit , liberian dollar , pediatrics , economic evaluation , emergency medicine , intensive care medicine , finance , pathology , economics
In the present economic climate and with increasing expenditure on neonatal intensive care, there has been a demand for economic evaluation and justification of neonatal intensive care programmes. This study assesses the inhospital costs of neonatal intensive care. Fixed and variable costs were calculated for services and uses of an Intensive/Special Care Nursery for the year 1985 and corrected to 1987 Australian dollar equivalents. Establishing a new neonatal intensive care unit of 43 cots in an existing hospital with available floor space including operating costs for a year were estimated in Australian dollars for 1987 at $6 408 000. Daily costs per baby for each level of care were $1282 ventilator, $481 intensive, $293 transitional and $287 recovery, respectively. The cost per survivor managed in the Intensive/Special Care Nursery in 1985 showed the expected inverse relationship to birthweight being $2400 for > 2500 g, $4050 for 2000–2500 g, $9200 for 1500–1999 g, $23 900 for 1000–1499 g and $63 450 for < 1000 g. Further analysis for extremely low birthweight infants managed in 1986 and 1987 demonstrated costs per survivor of $128 400 for infants < 800 g birthweight and $43 950 for those 800–999 g. This methodology might serve as a basis for further accounting and cost‐evaluation exercises.