Distribution of Variable vs Fixed Costs of Hospital Care

Roberts, Rebecca; Frutos, Paul W.; Ciavarella, Ginevra G.; Gussow, Leon; Mensah, Edward; Kampe, Linda M.; Straus, Helen; Joseph, Gnanaraj; Rydman, Robert J.

doi:10.1001/jama.281.7.644

Cited by 264 publications

(191 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…• Variable costs (e.g., medication and supplies) are estimated to be 16% (Roberts et al 1999), so we further reduced the hospital's revenue per patient day by 16% of $5,189. Thus, the hospital's net revenue per patient day is 34% of $5,189, or $1,764.…”

Section: Cost Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of a Discharge Holding Area on the Throughput of a Pediatric Unit

et al. 2017

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Abstract. Hospital patients often move from one bed to another for both medical and nonmedical reasons. In a highly utilized quaternary inpatient pediatric unit we have studied, bed and nursing resources are stressed not only by frequent movement of patients but also by the unit's patient discharge policy. We present a discrete-event simulation model for examining how the unit's efficiency may be improved by a better discharge policy. In particular, we use the base version of the model to investigate the impact of sending various percentages of discharge-ready patients to a discharge holding area where they can safely wait for a few hours until being picked up by their parent or guardian. Doing so frees up inpatient beds, allowing the unit to serve many more pediatric patients per year. In a revised version of the model we quantify the benefits of helping some patients achieve discharge-ready status a few hours earlier than under current operations. In both cases, our cost analysis shows that the unit could realize hundreds of thousands of dollars more per year in net revenue. This argument can be used to help persuade decision makers, who have otherwise been skeptical of the idea of a discharge holding area.

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Section: Cost Analysismentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of a Discharge Holding Area on the Throughput of a Pediatric Unit

et al. 2017

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“…In a typical HCO, fixed costs tend to be much higher than they are in other service industries. Part of the reason is attributed to the high costs of medical technology, as well as to marked fluctuations in demand which are very often difficult to predict [14] . Part of it, however, is also due to an industry-wide tendency to favor more sophisticated architecture and technology over more basic structural and operational necessities.…”

Section: Fixed Costs: Fixed Is the New Redmentioning

confidence: 99%

The importance of fundamental economic concepts for nurse leaders: No margin, no mission

MacLeod¹

2014

Clinical Nursing Studies

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Rising health care costs are currently a problem in virtually every industrialized country, and policy makers around the globe are trying to figure out ways to continue to maintain economically viable health care systems. A primary focus on quality and access in prior years has proven to be incomplete in terms of the long-term sustainability. The focus of interest has now turned to the concept of value which unavoidably brings the essential element of cost squarely into the forefront. In order to deal more effectively with inevitable cost constraints, nurse leaders will need a basic understanding of some of the fundamental economic concepts that will be driving many of the initiative for more financially sustainable health care systems.

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“…In this context, numerous clinical studies have targeted the costs of the initial clinical course for the multiply injured. Some researchers have focused on the total hospitals costs, an approach that mandates meticulous documentation of hundreds of variables [32,41], while others have addressed the reduction of intensive care unit charges [12] or investigated whether the amount of clinical tests can be reduced [74].…”

Section: The Development Of Trauma Networkmentioning

confidence: 99%