Estimated costs before, during and after the introduction of the emergency laparotomy pathway quality improvement care (ELPQuIC) bundle

• Published in: Anaesthesia 2016-11, Vol.71 (11), p.1291-1295
• Main Authors: Eveleigh, M. O., Howes, T. E., Peden, C. J., Cook, T. M.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Adolescent; Adult; Age Factors; Aged; Aged, 80 and over; Critical care; Critical Care - economics; Critical Pathways - economics; Critical Pathways - standards; economics; Emergencies; emergency laparotomy; England; Health Care Costs - statistics & numerical data; Health Services Research - methods; Hospital costs; Humans; Kaplan-Meier Estimate; Laparotomy - economics; Laparotomy - standards; Length of Stay - statistics & numerical data; Middle Aged; Mortality; patient care quality measures; Perioperative Care - economics; Perioperative Care - standards; Pneumoviridae; Quality; Quality Improvement; Young Adult
• ISSN: 0003-2409; 1365-2044
• DOI: 10.1111/anae.13623

Summary Implementation of a quality improvement bundle for peri‐operative management of emergency laparotomy (ELPQuIC) improved mortality in a previous study. We used data from one site that participated in that study to examine whether it was associated with the cost of care. We collected data from 396 patients: 144 before, 144 during and 108 after implementation of the bundle. We estimated costs incurred using previously published methodology based on the time the patient spent in hospital, in the operating theatre and in critical care. Duration of stay in hospital and critical care did not differ between time periods, p = 0.14 and p = 0.28, respectively. The costs per patient and per survivor did not differ between the time periods, p = 0.87 and p = 0.17, respectively. Costs were similar for patients aged