Trauma centre care cost-effective
Trauma centre care not only saves lives, it is a cost-effective way of treating major trauma, according to a new report from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health's Centre for Injury Research and Policy. Although treatment at a trauma centre is more expensive, the benefits of this approach in terms of lives saved and quality of life-years gained outweigh the costs. The study finds that the added cost of treatment at a trauma centre versus nontrauma centre is only $36,319 for every life-year gained or $790,931 per life saved. This is despite the fact that initial care in trauma centres is 71 percent higher than in nontrauma centres. While previous studies have found trauma centre care decreases one's likelihood of dying following injury, this is the most comprehensive study to date to also measure cost-effectiveness. The results are published in the July issue of the Journal of Trauma...