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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 ask the question
IS IT A GOOD IDEA FOR LONG-TERM VENTILATED ADULTS& CHILDREN WITH TRACHEOSTOMIES TO STAY IN INTENSIVE CARE FOR WEEKS OR MONTHS?
It never ceases to amaze me to see over and over again how far behind Australian Intensive Care Units are when it comes to long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies!
In fact, there are still Millions of Dollars $$$ of tax payers money being wasted by keeping DRG’s (DRG= Diagnosis Related groups) AO6A and AO6B in Intensive Care Units for way longer than necessary.
DRG’s AO6A and AO6B are the DRG’s for long-term ventilated Patients with Tracheostomies and their stay in Intensive Care costs between $ 4,000 to $ 5,000 per bed day!
Those DRG’s are the second highest ranking DRG in terms of cost in Australia only after LVAD insertion.
Related article:
It’s therefore a perfectly legitimate question to ask whether it is a good idea to keep long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in Intensive Care for many weeks and many months?
Not only is there the financial aspect, there is also the aspect of those Patients blocking beds that could be used for more acute Patients in need for a critical care bed!
There is also the aspect that long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families have
- No quality of life and/or quality of end of life in Intensive Care
- To spend many weeks and many months in a sterile and depressing environment
- To spend day and night in Intensive Care and in essence put their lives on hold in order to be with their loved ones
- No choice and miss out on opportunities and possibilities that are available to them at home
Why is it that other countries such as Germany have nearly 20 years ago created win- win solutions, cost effectiveness and an improved quality of life for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies by providing Intensive Home Care nursing, in order to provide a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care?
Again, it’s a win-win situation and by providing Intensive Home Care services to long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies and their families
- have a much better quality of life and/or quality of end of life
- finally have choice and options
- Cost effectiveness is being provided to Intensive Care Units, hospitals and health service funding agencies such as Departments of health and Private health insurances
- More beds are being available in Intensive Care for more acute Patients in need of a critical care bed
What are your thoughts?
Do you think it’s a good idea to keep long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in Intensive Care for weeks or months on end if they are long-term ventilated with tracheostomy?
Leave your comments on the blog or contact me on 041 094 2230 or email [email protected]
We are also currently hiring enthusiastic and experienced Intensive Care nurses with Critical Care certificate for a ventilated Melbourne Client, close to the CBD.
For more information check out our Career section here www.intensivecareathome.com.au/careers or contact Patrik on 041 094 2230
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.