Stoma care nurses: good value for money?

Area of Science:

• Health Services Research
• Patient Care Management
• Cost-Effectiveness Analysis

Background:

• Healthcare systems face budget reductions, impacting specialized services like stoma therapy.
• There is a lack of data on the cost-effectiveness of stoma therapy.
• Enterostomal therapists play a crucial role in patient care and require justification for their services.

Purpose of the Study:

• To evaluate the cost-effectiveness of stoma therapy from a patient's perspective.
• To quantify the resources utilized in stoma therapy.
• To assess patient satisfaction and perceived necessity of enterostomal therapists.

Main Methods:

• Prospective data collection from 94 patients between January and December 1996.
• Analysis of therapy-related costs, patient outcomes, and patient-reported evaluations.
• Calculation of enterostomal therapist staff costs and stoma product expenses.

Main Results:

• Average patient contacts: 14.6 (SD 7.1), duration: 12.9 (SD 9.1) minutes per contact.
• Enterostomal therapist staff costs represented 2.7% of total staff costs (US$15,212).
• Stoma products accounted for 4.5% of total medical supply costs (US$7750).
• 89.3% of patients deemed the enterostomal therapist indispensable.
• 70.3% reported coping well with their stoma, but 69.2% would cope poorly without therapist care.

Conclusions:

• Stoma therapy costs are justifiable from the patient's viewpoint.
• The study supports the continued provision of stoma therapy services.
• No grounds for rationalization measures concerning stoma therapy staff were identified.