The cost of time: A randomised, controlled trial to assess the economic impact of upfront, point-of-care blood tests in the Emergency Centre
African journal of emergency medicine (Print)
;
9(2): 57-63, 2019.
Article
in English
| AIM
| ID: biblio-1258693
ABSTRACT
Introduction Time and cost constraints abound in the Emergency Centre (EC). These resource-constraints are further magnified in low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). Almost half of all patients presenting to the EC require laboratory tests. Unfortunately, access to laboratory services in LMIC is commonly inadequate. Point-of-Care (POC) tests may assist to avert this shortcoming. The aims of this study were to evaluate the cost effectiveness of upfront POC blood tests performed prior to doctor assessment compared to the standard EC workflow.Methods A secondary analysis was performed on data from a prospective, randomised, controlled trial where patients with abdominal/chest symptoms or generalised body pain/weakness followed either the normal EC workflow pathway or one of two enhanced workflow pathways with POC tests (i-STAT with and without a complete blood count (CBC)) prior to doctor evaluation. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) was used to perform the cost effectiveness analysis.Results:
There were 248 patients enrolled in the study. The use of the two upfront, POC test pathways significantly exceeded the primary outcome measure of a 20% reduction in treatment time. In the i-STATâ¯+â¯CBC group, the 31â¯min. time-saving translated into cost-saving of US$14.96 per patient (IECR 0.27) whereas the 21â¯min. time-saving in the i-STAT only group only had an additional net cost of US$3.11 per patient (IECR 0.90).Conclusion Upfront, POC blood tests can be utilised in the resource-constrained EC to manage patients more efficiently by saving time. This time-saving can, in fact, be more cost effective than traditional EC workflow making it an economically viable option for implementation in LMIC
Search on Google
Index:
AIM (Africa)
Main subject:
South Africa
/
Time Factors
/
Blood Chemical Analysis
/
Costs and Cost Analysis
/
Emergency Medical Services
Type of study:
Controlled clinical trial
/
Health economic evaluation
Country/Region as subject:
Africa
Language:
English
Journal:
African journal of emergency medicine (Print)
Year:
2019
Type:
Article
Similar
MEDLINE
...
LILACS
LIS