RESUMEN
BACKGROUND: Rehabilitation costs borne by the service institution are part of the total cost incurred when a patient is admitted to hospital. The total costs cannot directly represent the rehabilitation costs. When considering the funding allocated for specific services, it is useful to have figures that represent the actual costs of those services. OBJECTIVE: Study the unit cost of rehabilitation. MATERIAL AND METHOD: The data were collected from March to December 2006. Three hundred twenty seven patients from nine collaborating centers, including 18 patients from Sirindhron National Medical Rehabilitation Center (SNMRC) participated in this study. Descriptive analysis produced results in percent, mean standard deviation, and p-value. One unit of rehabilitation treatment is equal to twenty minutes. RESULTS: The average unit cost of rehabilitation treatment among the nine collaborating centers was 94.56 units per week and 33.78 from rehabilitation nursing. At SNMRC, the average rehabilitation unit was 32.67 units per week and the cost for rehabilitation was 11,170.56 +/- 5641.73 baht. CONCLUSION: The calculated unit cost was 60 baht/20 minutes service time.