Gothenburg very early supported discharge: evaluating differences in costs and environmental impact due to rehabilitation consumption during the first year in patients hospitalized due to mild stroke.
Lena Rafsten, Annie Palstam, Katharina S Sunnerhagen
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引用次数: 0
Abstract
Background: It has been showed that Early Supported Discharge could decrease the length of hospital stay and thus a cost saving alternative to conventional in-hospital stroke rehabilitation. This might lead to decreased environmental impact due to reduced need of in-hospital care but has not been evaluated.
Methods: One hundred forty adult patients from a stroke unit at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital who were consecutively included in the GOTVED study and then randomized to Very Early Supported Discharge (VESD) group or to a control group who received ordinary discharge was included. Descriptive data are presented as mean ± standard deviation (SD) or median and interquartile range (IQR), as appropriate. The chi-square test or Mann-Whitney U test was used to test for group difference. A two-sided value of p ≤ 0.05 was considered to represent statistical significance.
Results: The VESD group had an average hospital stay that was 2 days shorter than that of the control group, resulting in a mean cost of € 11,151 in the VESD group, and for the control group € 10,741 (p = 68). The mean environmental impact in kg CO2 emissions was 525.3 (± 240.1) kg CO2/patient in the VESD group, VESD visits included, and 552.5 (± 284.2) kg CO2/patient in the control group (p = 0.55).
Discussion: Despite the fact that the 2-day difference in hospital stay between the VESD group and the control group was not statistically, if generalized a two days shorter in-hospital stay to all hospitalized stroke patients in Sweden, would results in a saving of € 6,944,500 /year. Two days shorter in-hospital days would also mean a reduction in CO2 emissions with approximately 360,050 CO2 kg /year. These hypothetical possible reductions in healthcare emissions would contribute to more sustainable healthcare.
Conclusion: A policy of offering more patients VESD after stroke could reduce healthcare costs and environmental impact, contributing to sustainable healthcare.
期刊介绍：
BMC Health Services Research is an open access, peer-reviewed journal that considers articles on all aspects of health services research, including delivery of care, management of health services, assessment of healthcare needs, measurement of outcomes, allocation of healthcare resources, evaluation of different health markets and health services organizations, international comparative analysis of health systems, health economics and the impact of health policies and regulations.
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