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Hi it’s Patrik Hutzel from www.intensivecareathome.com.au where we provide tailor made solutions for long-term ventilated Adults& Children with Tracheostomy by improving their Quality of life and where we also provide tailor made solutions to hospitals and Intensive Care Units to save money and resources, whilst providing Quality Care!
In last week’s BLOG I shared
You can check out last week’s blog here.
In this week’s blog I want to share
“HOW TO SAVE $ 2,000 PER BED DAY IN INTENSIVE CARE!”
Intensive Care is the most expensive area in health care!
It never ceases to amaze me that despite the high costs in Intensive Care- that can range up to $ 5,000 per bed day- no “think tanks” or any other “special interest groups” have been brainstorming any solutions in how to reduce the costs in such a high cost area like Intensive Care!
In fact, Intensive Care treatment for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies represent the second highest expenditure for all DRG’s (=Diagnosis Related Groups) in the health care system.
The numbers speak loudly and the numbers speak for themselves, as DRG’s AO6A and AO6B- both DRG’s for long-term ventilation with tracheostomies in Intensive Care- are costing the tax payer currently around $ 5,000 per bed day!
Both DRG’s- AO6A and AO6B- are also the second highest ranking DRG’s in terms of costing and expenses only after LVAD (=Left ventricular assist device) insertion!
You can look up the data here on the National Hospital Cost Data Collection Australian public hospitals Cost Report 2010-2011, which has been published on the Independent Hospital Pricing Authority (IHPA) website http://www.ihpa.gov.au/internet/ihpa/publishing.nsf/Content/nhcdc-cost-rep-2010-2011.htm~2-summary~2-4-admitted-acute-results~2-4-5-20-top-drgs
It should be in everybody’s interest to reduce those massive expenses for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies, especially since long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies have no or little quality of life and/or quality of end of life in a sterile and depressing Intensive Care environment!
It should also be in the interest of an Intensive Care Unit to have more precious, scarce, expensive and “in-demand” Critical Care beds.
It should also be in the best interest of health funding agencies such as the department of health or private health funds to reduce the cost of ~ $ 5,000 per bed day to less than ~ $ 3,000 per bed day for DRG’s AO6A and AO6B!
You may wonder how that can be achieved?
It’s quite simple. Long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies can be looked after at home instead of an sterile, depressing and limiting Intensive Care environment!
In many European countries, but mainly in Germany, Austria and Switzerland long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families, as well as Intensive Care Units have nearly two decades ago embraced the holistic and Patient and family friendly concept of Intensive Home Care for long-term ventilated adults& children!
The concept of Intensive Home Care for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies enables all stakeholders to benefit from this model and it creates a win-win situation. It provides
- Quality of life and/or quality of end of life for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in their own home
- Families with more time and flexibility to be with their loved ones and also provides families with the opportunity to live their lives rather than spending day and night in Intensive Care
- Improved resource management opportunities for Intensive Care Units, including but not limited to, having more beds and more funds available for more acutely unwell Patients in need of a critical care bed
- Massive cost savings for Departments of health and Private health funds who provide the biggest bulk of funding for Intensive Care Units
What are your thoughts?
Why do you think Intensive Care Units in Australia are so slow to adopt this new and innovative model of home care for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies, that has been around in Europe for nearly 20 years?
Leave your comments on the blog here.
We are also currently hiring enthusiastic and experienced Intensive Care nurses with Critical Care certificate for a ventilated Melbourne Clients in Melbourne.
We would also like to hear from you if you have a minimum of 2 years Paediatric ICU experience, as we have opportunities here as well!
For more information check out our Career section here www.intensivecareathome.com.au/careers or contact Patrik on 041 094 2230 or simply hit reply to this email.
You can also contact me on 041 094 2230 if you want to know more about how we can help you, your Intensive Care Unit and your Patients and Families.
Thank you for tuning into this week’s blog.
This is Patrik Hutzel from www.intensivecareathome.com.au and I’ll see you again in another update next week.