Magnitude of use and costs of in-hospital respiratory therapy.
Respiratory therapy services have expanded in the 3 decades since World War II and now account for approximately 3% of hospital expenditures. The types of services performed have changed; the number of intermittent positive-pressure breathing treatments has markedly decreased since peak usage in th early 1970s, whereas the use of ventilator care and incentive spirometry has increased. The continued increase in respiratory therapy costs may reflect both inflationary pressures and the labor-intensive shift to increased involvement in critical care units.
D006764:Hospitals, Community; D006801:Humans; D007384:Intermittent Positive-Pressure Breathing / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012138:Respiratory Therapy / Q000191:economics / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D014481:United States