The continuing impact of home oxygen therapy for respiratory patients on a hospital budget.
Home oxygen therapy for chronic lung disease is a prominent example of an increasing tendency for the provision of adaptive medical technologies by tertiary-level hospital outreach. Flinders Medical Centre has carefully monitored its home oxygen service using cost-centre management. Despite strict prescription criteria and cost-saving technological advance, this budget remains under continued pressure. Demand from eligible patients is increasing, and their enhanced survival means that numbers accumulate over the years. Unfortunately, long-term community support does not fit easily into conventional hospital budgetting. Hospitals at present do not explicitly record the benefits nor bring to account the cost savings from maintaining patients in the community. Several intermediate improvements are suggested.
Flinders Medical Centre, Bedford Park, SA.
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A
Crockett
J
J
Moss
J
J
Alpers
D001509:Bed Occupancy; D002017:Budgets; D003361:Cost Allocation; D006699:Home Care Services / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D008173:Lung Diseases, Obstructive / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D010102:Oxygen Inhalation Therapy / Q000191:economics* / Q000295:instrumentation; D010343:Patient Admission / Q000706:statistics & numerical data / Q000639:trends; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012139:Respiratory Therapy Department, Hospital / Q000191:economics* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D013021:South Australia