Full-cost determination of different levels of care in the intensive care unit. An activity-based costing approach.

We applied an activity-based costing methodology to determine the full cost of intensive care service at a community hospital, a university hospital and a health maintenance organisation (HMO)-affiliated hospital. A total of 5 patient care units were analysed: the intensive care unit (ICU) and surgical ICU (SICU) at the university setting, the ICU at the community setting, and the SICU and cardiac care unit at the HMO setting. The selection of the different ICU types was based on the types of critical care units that were found in each setting (e.g. the HMO did not have an ICU). Institution-specific cost data and clinical management parameters were collected through surveys and site visits from the 3 respective organisation types. The analysis revealed a marked increase in patient-minute cost associated with mechanical ventilation. Higher costs associated with prolonged neuromuscular blockade have important economic implications with respect to selection of an appropriate neuromuscular blocking agent.