Abstract:

Purpose: Up to now in maxillofacial surgery almost all inpatient treatments were reimbursed at the hospital's per diem rate. The real treatment cost is unknown and there is a lack of publications in this sphere. This study calculates the cost of surgical treatment of mandibular fractures. Method: The prospective study includes 104 patients whose mandibular fractures were treated using miniplate osteosynthesis. For each patient we took into account the time input by physicians and specialised nurses and calculated labour cost using the relevant wage rates. We added the cost for materials and drugs as well as for laboratory and radiographic examinations. Finally, we incorporated charges for the hotel and nursing components of inpatient treatment. Results: The cost for the surgical treatment of mandibular fractures varied between 642? for single and 1,070? for triple fractures. The share of labour cost is about 1/3. Treatment cost varies with the length of hospital stay: 1,132? for four days and 1,628? for seven days on average. Conclusion: This prospective study can be compared with the recently published corresponding G-DRG rates. Moreover, the reported cost figures allow comparison with corresponding cost studies from other public health systems.