Care of minor burn injuries: an analysis of burn clinic and emergency room charges.

Most burn injuries are minor in nature and can be managed on an outpatient basis. Such patients are usually evaluated and treated in emergency departments (ED) rather than in specialized outpatient burn care facilities. Although many burn centers maintain such facilities for the initial care of these patients, this practice is not commonplace because of conflicting interests of the ED and burn team. We first analyzed the hospital charges for all thermally injured patients admitted for a period of < or = 24 hours between April 1996 and August 1998. This was followed by an independent analysis of the hospital charges for all outpatient visits to the burn clinic and ED during calendar year 1998. Physician charges were not included in the second study. Patients admitted for < or = 24 hours had mean hospital charges of $1185 when initially evaluated in the ED compared with $691 if they were directly admitted to the burn unit (P < 0.001). This difference was largely because of higher charges for medication, laboratory, radiologic studies, and the ED visit charges. In the second study the mean charge for care administered in the ED was $192 compared with $139 for treatment in the outpatient burn clinic (P < 0.0001). Patients treated in the burn clinic had significantly lower radiology and treatment charges but significantly higher pharmacy charges than patients treated in the ED. These data have supported our efforts to develop a walk-in burn treatment center. Such a program should not only result in reduced charges for care, but also enhance patient access to the expertise of the multidisciplinary burn team and help ensure optimal outcomes.