Outpatient diabetes center cuts inpatient costs.
By shifting its education of patients newly diagnosed with Type I diabetes from the acute care setting to an outpatient clinic, Children's Hospital of Wisconsin in Milwaukee has cut its costs per case from as much as $4,500 to $900, while inpatient length of stay has dropped from three days to one, even for metabolically unstable patients. Despite the cost decreases, however, reimbursement remains a problem. Patients and their family members receive 12 to 15 hours of education during three half-day sessions in the clinic, but insurance companies often shy away from paying for outpatient education programs. Despite the reluctant support of insurance companies, the case manager in charge of the diabetes program has taken steps to align charges with the actual cost of staffing and running the diabetes center, factoring in a 30% profit margin.
D000553:Ambulatory Care; D002648:Child; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000191:economics* / Q000628:therapy; D019468:Disease Management; D017721:Hospital Costs; D006776:Hospitals, Pediatric; D006801:Humans; D010044:Outpatient Clinics, Hospital; D010353:Patient Education as Topic / Q000191:economics*; D014922:Wisconsin