[Budget analysis in a burn center for severely burned patients]

The treatment of patients with severe burn injuries is expensive and belongs in the hands of specialized burn centres. In our burn centre 257 patients were treated from 1991 to June 1995 (between 50 and 60 patients per year except for 1993 with 77 patients). Patients were evaluated according to the ABSI score (mean 7) and had mortality of around 15%. The costs range between 3.7 and 4.8 million DM per year, the profit lies in the same range. The costs are divided into staff costs (1.4-1.8 million DM per year), costs for medical treatment (1.5-1.9 million DM per year) and costs for internal services (600,000-900,000 DM per year) such as laboratory examinations (247,000-386,000 DM per year) and blood bank (100,000-215,000 DM per year), the main factors in this category. The different fields of costs and profit are compared in this analysis. Possible ways of reducing costs are pointed out, and the question of effectiveness of therapy is discussed. Conclusions from this analysis are limited by the individuality of each case with different clinical courses, the great number of influencing factors and the comparably small numbers of patients.