Hospital Costs Of Extracorporeal Life Support Therapy.

Area of Science:

• Critical Care Medicine
• Health Economics

Background:

• Extracorporeal life support (ECLS) is a vital therapy for acute, reversible cardiac or respiratory failure when conventional treatments are insufficient.
• Despite its recognized utility, robust evidence from randomized controlled trials regarding ECLS efficacy is still limited.

Purpose of the Study:

• To explore and quantify the hospital costs associated with extracorporeal life support therapy.
• To provide a detailed economic evaluation from a hospital perspective.

Main Methods:

• A single-center, retrospective, exploratory cohort cost study was conducted.
• The analysis encompassed 67 adult patients treated with ECLS at a university teaching hospital in the Netherlands between 2010 and 2013.
• A bottom-up microcosting approach was employed, detailing personnel and material costs.

Main Results:

• The mean total hospital cost per patient for ECLS was €106,263.
• Hospital nursing days constituted the largest cost component, averaging 52% of the total expenses.
• Direct procedure-related ECLS costs accounted for 11%, with surgery and diagnostics representing substantial remaining costs.

Conclusions:

• This economic evaluation highlights the significant hospital costs of ECLS therapy in the Netherlands.
• Nursing care is the primary driver of overall ECLS treatment expenses.
• Further research may be needed to optimize cost-effectiveness given the high resource utilization.