[Costs for acute, stationary treatment of polytrauma patients]

Are the costs required for a polytraumatised patient sufficiently paid by the health care companies?The study population consisted of 71 polytrauma patients. The treatment-costs were calculated and compared with the reimbursements. The mean patient age was 38.0 years with a mean injury severity score (ISS) of 23.0 points. The mean duration of hospitalisation was 25.9 days and the mean calculated cost per patient was Euro 21,866.30. The reimbursement was only Euro 16,863.03/patient. This leads to a financial deficit of approximately Euro 5,000/patient (Euro 167/polytrauma patient/hospital day) and nearly Euro 355,000 for all patients during the period of 1 year. The introduction of the DRG system endangers the high standard of polytrauma treatment because of insufficient reimbursement.It is necessary to consider the implementation of an additional polytrauma-reimbursement based on the injury severity and duration of hospitalisation. The concentration of the patients in trauma centres, where the optimum of therapy is guarantied, leads in these hospitals to a continuously increasing deficit. The latter may be deleterious for the concept of "trauma centers" in the future.