What Are the Costs of Diagnostic Work-Up to Perform Etiopathogenic Diagnosis in Stroke Patients?
This depends strongly upon the diagnostic tools and can be calculated by adding their costs. For the majority of the patients the above-mentioned examinations are sufficient. Stroke unit costs were recently calculated for neurologist’s stroke care and compared to internist’s cardiologist’s or family practitioner’s costs. Neurologists were found to have significantly higher expenses with USD 6,000 per hospitalization, whereas internists and family practitioners were cheaper [Mitchell et al., 1996]. These costs included the hospitalization itself, in-patient physician services and after the acute care period until 90 days. On the other hand, the implementation of an acute stroke program leads to significantly lower costs in acute stroke. By reducing length of stay from 7.0 to 4.6 days, costs fell from USD 14,000 to 10,800 [Wentworth and Atkinson. 1996]. Costs may also be lowered by a higher amount of patients discharged at home [Jorgensen et al., 1995]. References Jorgensen HS, Nakayama
