Billing of nursing procedures at an intensive care unit

Abstract

This study aimed to: estimate the billing of nursing procedures at an intensive care unit and calculate how much of total ICU revenues are generated by nursing. An exploratorydescriptive, documentary research with a quantitative approach was carried out. The study was performed at a general ICU of a private hospital in the city of Sao Paulo. The sample consisted of 159 patients. It was concluded that the nursing procedures were responsible for 15.1% of total ICU revenues, which breaks down to an average 11.3% of revenues coming from nursing prescriptions and 3.8% from medical prescriptions. Demonstrating how much nursing contributes to hospital revenues is essential information for nursing managers, as it is an important argument to obtain resources and guarantee safe care. Descriptors La facturación de procedimientos de enfermería en una Unidad de Terapia IntensivaLos objetivos de este estudio fueron: estimar la facturación generada por los procedimientos de enfermería en una unidad de terapia intensiva y calcular el porcentaje de la facturación generado por la enfermería en relación a la facturación total de la UTI. Se trató de una investigación exploratoria-descriptiva, documental, con abordaje cuantitativo. Fue realizada en una UTI general, de un hospital privado, en la ciudad de Sao Paulo. La muestra fue de 159 pacientes. Los procedimientos realizados por la enfermería fueron responsables por 15,1% de la facturación total de la UTI, siendo, en promedio, 11,3% proveniente de la facturación de la prescripción de enfermería y 3,8% de la prescripción médica. Demostrar cuanto la enfermería contribuye para la facturación de los hospitales es una información esencial para los administradores de enfermería ya que es un argumento importante para la obtención de recursos y garantizar un cuidado seguro.

Costs of most frequent nursing activities in highly dependent hospitalized patients

“…This is already the case at some private and public hospitals, where the nurse, as the manager of her business unit, assesses needs related to material, physical, human and financial resources; critical assesses unit expenses on a monthly base, comparing actual and budgeted expenses; and participates in budget planning for the upcoming year (16) .…”

Direct Cost of Reprocessing Cotton-woven Surgical Drapes: a Case Study

“…This is because cost management is an important aspect to be considered in achieving financial balance, and increasing accessibility without harming the quality of health services (12) . In some public and private hospitals, nurses have decision-making power in allocating resources, assessing needs related to material, physical, human and financial resources; performing critical monthly analysis of unit costs, comparing budgeted and actual costs; and participating in budget forecasts for following years (13) . It is noteworthy that nurses can improve health institutions performance by understanding costs, identifying and monitoring elements and processes steps that increase costs and those which can be eliminated without jeopardizing the quality and without compromising care demands (14) .…”

Faturamento De Curativos Grau Ii E Registros: Contribuições Da Enfermagem

“…23 The importance of nurses knowing the entire process of the procedure billing and costs is mentioned in a study that considers nurses as a management tool, because they play an important role in the control and management of physical, human, material, and financial resources, in addition to their participation in strategic planning. 6 The ignorance with regard to costs can lead to erroneous analyses on the expenses and often, as a consequence, inappropriate decision-making with regard to the current situations. 24 Thereby, in addition to the education of professionals working on billing and provision of care, knowledge on the costs of nursing procedures can contribute to improving the care records, thus decreasing hospital billing losses and reimbursement denials.…”

“…5 Every hospital admission generates charges for a clinical or surgical procedure, provided in a price list, which must be in accordance with the clinical or surgical procedure that caused the hospitalization. Due to the fact that the payment for nursing care is included in hospital rates or procedures fees, 6 it is not possible to determine precisely the contribution of nursing to the billing of public institutions.…”