Cost estimation of patients admitted to the intensive care unit: a case study of the Teaching University Hospital of Thessaly

Figures & data

Table 1.  Comparative data among hospitals in the Thessaly region, in 2006.

Hospitals	ICU beds	ICU patients	ICU beds per 100,000 inhabitants	Patient flows to the TUHT (%)	ICU bed occupancy rates (%)	LoS† in the ICU (days)
TUHT in Larissa	8	312	9.3*	46	94.8	8.9
Larissa General Hospital	8	278	9.3	24	96.7	10.1
Volos General Hospital	6	201	3.7	18	83.2	10.2
Karditsa General Hospital	4	120	8.2	6	79.6	11.7
Trikala General hospital	3	54	2.7	6	72.6	8.4
Thessaly region (total)	29	965	6.1	100
Greece	739		7.0

Sources: Regional Health Authority (RHA) of Thessaly and National Statistical Service of Greece, 2006.

*Estimation based on the population of the prefecture of Larissa and not on the total population of the Thessaly region.

†LoS, length of stay.

Table 2.  Pharmaceutical costs* per medical condition in 2006 euros.

Medical condition	Pharmaceutical expenses (€)	Number of patients admitted	Mean cost per patient (€)
Scheduled surgery	239,666	70	3,424
Trauma patients	219,198	62	3,535
Pneumonia	198,555	56	3,546
Brain injury	110,099	32	3,441
COPD	110,568	31	3,567
Stroke	162,051	47	3,448
Cancer	18,869	6	3,145
Heart	31,982	8	3,998
Total	1,090,988	312	3,497

*Rounded to the closest integer.

Table 3.  Breakdown of total annual hospitalisation cost* in the ICU in 2006.

Cost components	Cost distribution (%)	Total cost (€)	Mean cost per patient (€)
Personnel wages	28.9	1,493,084	4,786
Pharmaceutical care	21.2	1,090,988	3,497
Infrastructure & hotel services expenses	23.8	1,226,559	3,931
Consumables – supplies	14.5	747,775	2,397
Laboratory/diagnostic tests	10.2	523,667	1,678
Oxygen	1.4	70,890	227
Total cost	100	5,152,963	16,516

*Rounded to the closest integer

Table 4.  Mean hospitalisation cost* per ICU patient in the TUHL, in 2006 euros.

Payer	Cost per day per patient (€)	Inflated cost per day per patient (€)	Cost per patient† (€)	Inflated cost per patient (€)
Insurance funds	187.8	464	1,671	4,118
Actual	—	1,856	—	16,516

*Rounded to the closest integer.

†Mean length of stay 8.9 days.