Table 6.
Mean costs (€) of outpatients (n = 1184) and inpatients (n = 535)
| Items | Inpatients | Outpatients | Cost per patient (€), mean (SD) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| One-day stay | One visit | Inpatientsa | Outpatientsb | P value | |
| Staff salaryc | 228.17d | 80.52 | 2806.49 (174.00) | 262.50 (22.92) | <.001 |
| QDU (1) and (2) visitse | na | 127.24 | na | 414.80 (0.11) | |
| Diagnostic testsf | 83.48 | 218.77 | 1026.80 (76.00) | 713.19 (38.85) | <.001 |
| Therapeutic proceduresg | 1.67 | 0.54 | 20.54 (3.53) | 1.76 (0.23) | <.001 |
| Pharmaceuticals and consumables | 9.95 | 0.87 | 122.39 (20.44) | 2.84 (0.59) | <.001 |
| Consultationsh | 2.47 | 0.32 | 30.38 (9.57) | 1.04 (0.37) | <.001 |
| Adverse events | 0.50 | 0.09 | 6.15 (2.37) | 0.29 (0.10) | <.001 |
| Depreciation | 2.18 | 3.70 | 26.81 (2.44) | 12.06 (0.90) | <.001 |
| Total costs | 328.42 | 432.05 | 4039.56 (513.02) | 1408.48 (197.32) | <.001 |
Abbreviations: na not applicable. For other abbreviations, see Table 1
aMean (SD) overall admission time for diagnosis: 12.3 (3.3) days
bMean (SD) overall number of outpatients’ visits during the QDU time for diagnosis: 3.26 (1.2)
cSee Methods for details about salary of staff at inpatient wards
dSalary of staff at inpatient wards in charge of 12.5 patients (each ward has 25 beds)
eThe cost of an average outpatient consultation was based on officially established Catalan Health Service fees
fInclude costs of laboratory testing and any other investigation (e.g. imaging studies or cytologies and biopsies). The costs of each type of diagnostic tests were based on hospital tariffs in QDU (1) and established fees of the Catalan Health Service in QDU (2)
gInclude costs of procedures such as therapeutic paracentesis and thoracentesis performed to drain excessive amounts of ascites and pleural fluid, respectively
hInclude costs of consultations with professionals such as hospital specialists, dieticians, and social workers
Missing data: variables ‘diagnostic tests’ (outpatients = 2.2%, inpatients = 1.5%)¸ ‘therapeutic procedures’ (inpatients = 0.2%)¸ ‘pharmaceuticals and consumables’ (outpatients = 1.7%, inpatients = 1.6%), ‘consultations’ (outpatients = 9.4%, inpatients = 6.8%)