Cost of cardiac pacing.
The patient with a permanent pacemaker faces significant lifetime medical expenses. The financial records of 15 patients with more than 4 years' (average 73 months) of cardiac pacing were reviewed to establish the basic cost of pacing. Each pacemaker was electively replaced after 24 months of service. During the total of 1,096 months of pacing there were 65 hospital admissions. Medical expenses for the 15 patients totaled $112,160, of whic- $93,410 was for hospital expenses and $18,750 for physicians'fees. The average monthly cost per patient was $102 (range $84 to $130).
D000368:Aged; D001145:Arrhythmias, Cardiac / Q000628:therapy*; D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D005251:Fees, Medical; D005260:Female; D006327:Heart Block / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007350:Insurance, Hospitalization; D008297:Male; D006278:Medicare; D010138:Pacemaker, Artificial; D014481:United States