TABLE 4.

Comparison of the mean costs of care ($US) per condition according to time‐driven activity‐based costing based on time estimates and time measurements

Conditions	TE a	TM b	Difference TE‐TM	P value
Upper respiratory tract infection	64.2 (58.4 to 70.0)	53.7 (47.9 to 59.6)	10.5 (9.9 to 11.0)	<0.001
Urinary tract infection	63.9 (52.9 to 74.9)	67.1 (57.7 to 76.6)	−3.2 (−5.7 to −0.8)	0.005
Lower back pain	90.1 (71.2 to 108.9)	85.7 (70.4 to 101.1)	4.3 (−0.2 to 9.0)	0.07
Unspecified abdominal pain	211.0 (183.1 to 238.9)	160.9 (147.2 to 190.6)	50.2 (41.7 to 58.7)	<0.001
Superficial limb laceration	142.8 (109.1 to 176.5)	194.8 (148.1 to 241.5)	−52.0 (−68.0 to −36.0)	<0.001

Abbreviations: CI, confidence interval; ED, emergency department; TE, Time estimates by care professionnals; TM, time measurements on the field; US, United States.

Note: Time‐driven activity‐based costing requires 2 parameters: the capacity cost rate ($/min) of resources involved in patient care and the duration (min) of procedures provided to patients. The costs of the care procedures are obtained by multiplying the first with the second as in the following example: Cost of ED triage = capacity cost rates of nurse, consumables and overhead (1.02$/min + 0.09$/min + 0.22$/min) × triage duration (7.1 min) = $9.44. This table compares the cost estimates obtained from the durations estimated with 2 different approaches. All data are presented as mean (95% CI).

^a Time‐driven activity‐based costing from time estimates by care professionals.

^b Time‐driven activity‐based costing from field measurements of time.