title: A micro-costing model of neonatal intensive care from a tertiary Indian unit: feasibility and implications for insurance.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To calculate and compare costs of neonatal intensive care by micro-costing and gross-costing methods.
  
  
  METHODS
  The costs of resources of a tertiary care neonatal intensive care unit were estimated by the two methods to arrive at specific costs per diagnosis related categories for 33 neonates followed-up prospectively.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Gross-costing as compared to micro-costing resulted in higher cost per bed (Rs 6315 vs. Rs 4969) and wide variations of costs (-34.8% to +13.4%). Intensity of interventions, relative stay in neonatal intensive care unit compared to the step-down nursery, and total length of hospital admission accounted for these variations.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Estimates based on micro-costing arrived in this study may be used as a starting point in developing assumptions for insurance models covering neonatal intensive care.
authors.affiliation: WHO Collaborating Center for Training and Research in Newborn Care and ICMR Center for Advanced Research in Newborn Health, Newborn Health Knowledge Center, Division of Neonatology, Department of Pediatrics, and *Department of Preventive and Social Medicine, AIIMS, New Delhi, India. Correspondence to: Prof Vinod Paul, Department of Pediatrics, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi 110 029, India. vinodkpaul@hotmail.com.
authors.forename: Kannan
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Venkatnarayan
authors.forename: M Jeeva
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Sankar
authors.forename: Ashok
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Deorari
authors.forename: Anand
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Krishnan
authors.forename: Vinod K
authors.initials: VK
authors.lastname: Paul
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D017722:Hospital Charges / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007348:Insurance, Health; D015931:Intensive Care, Neonatal / Q000191:economics*; D018803:Models, Economic; D062606:Tertiary Care Centers / Q000191:economics*