Table 5.

Per-Patient IS Implementation Cost Estimates Using AMC Data.

IS ($)

+

$RT ($/min)

×

tRT (min) (95% CI)

+

$RN ($/min)

×

tRN (min/h) (95% CI)

×

16 h/d

×

LOS (days)

Cost ($) (95% CI)

12.92

0.49

21.6 (1.1-42.2)

0.60

0.7 (0.6-0.8)a

9

83.98 (65.30-102.72)

1.9 (1.4-2.4)b

187.66 (134.42-240.96)

Note. IS = incentive spirometry; AMC = academic medical center; $RT = RT’s mean per-minute wage ($); RT = respiratory therapist; t_RT = RTs’ spent initially educating a patient to use their IS; CI = confidence interval; $_RN = nurses’ mean per-minute wage ($); t_RN = minutes per hour nurses spend doing IS-related activities per patient; LOS = mean hospital length of stay (days).

^aProspectively collected AMC step-down unit questionnaire data.

^bAMC online nurse survey responses.