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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 talked about
“ARE INTENSIVE CARE UNITS OPERATING IN A VACUUM WHEN IT COMES TO END OF LIFE SITUATIONS?”
You can check out last week’s BLOG here!
In this week’s BLOG I want to talk about
“WHY CURRENT FUNDING MODELS IN INTENSIVE CARE ARE NOT IN THE BEST INTEREST OF LONG-TERM VENTILATED PATIENTS WITH TRACHEOSTOMIES!”
It always intrigues me to find how little thought goes into the care, treatment and also the funding of long-term ventilated Intensive Care Patients with tracheostomies.
Hundreds of thousands of dollars of tax payers money is being allocated and spend without actually measuring the outcomes, let alone look at what’s in the best interest for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies.
Let’s take for example DRG AO6A (Tracheostomy and ventilation in Intensive Care).
In FY 2010/2011 DRG AO6A was the second highest ranked DRG 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
The average cost per bed day for DRG AO6A was around $ 4,000 per bed day. That’s a lot of tax payers money being spent.
No public data exists about the outcomes for Patients with DRG AO6A, meaning we don’t know how many Patients recovered or had been issued with an “NFR” due to the lack of perceived alternatives, how many Patients died or exceeded their predicted average length of stay.
The fact of the matter is that Patients in need of long-term ventilation with tracheostomy in Intensive Care are requiring the second highest expenditure in the country in Intensive Care!
Most of those Patients requiring long-term ventilation with tracheostomies are medically stable and they don’t require inotropic support.
Most long-term ventilated Patients with tracheostomies and their families also suffer tremendously from their stay in Intensive Care and they are often depressed, apathetic and they have no quality of life and/or quality of end of life!
Most long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies would benefit tremendously from an earlier discharge home from Intensive Care, with a specialised service like INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME.
So what’s keeping long-term ventilated Patients with tracheostomies in Intensive Care if they are not inotrope dependent and why haven’t hospitals or departments of health not looked into how they can reduce the cost to look after those Patients?
Why haven’t hospitals, Intensive Care Units and departments of health not embraced new Intensive Home Care service models for those Patients even though they have proven their success and efficiency for nearly two decades in other 1st world countries?
From my perspective there are a number of reasons why the massive costs for DRG AO6A haven’t been reduced as yet.
- The lack of competition for Intensive Care Units when it comes to long-term ventilation with tracheostomies
- The lack of accountability for Intensive Care Units in how they can reduce costs and also improve the quality of life and/or quality of end of life for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies
- The lack of innovation in a slow to change environment
- Not knowing about and not responding to services like INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME who can create modern and timely, 21st century “win-win” solutions for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies in their own homes as a genuine alternative to a long-term stay in Intensive Care
What are your thoughts?
How do you think the massive costs for long-term ventilated adults& children with tracheostomies can be reduced and their quality of life and/or quality of end of life can be improved?
Leave your comments on the blog!
Please also note that INTENSIVE CARE AT HOME has been selected as a preferred provider for Queensland Health Services as part of the recent “Hospital in the Home” tender.
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.