Costs of Hospital Stay in Specialized Diabetic Foot Department in Russia.

ABSTRACT

BACKGROUND: Diabetic foot ulcer (DFU) is considered to be one of the most common and costly diabetic complications. The approach unanimously recommended for patients with DFU is treatment by a multidisciplinary foot care team, which in Russia mainly is limited to few federal and regional hospitals. Currently, financing schemes for medical institutions are changing, thus raising the issue of setting adequate tariffs. OBJECTIVE: To identify the cost of treatment in the specialized diabetic foot department and determinants of variation in cost among individual patients with DFU in the Russian setting from the perspective of a health care organization. METHODS: We collected data on treatment cost per admission to the Diabetic Foot Department of the Endocrinology Scientific Center and information on patients' characteristics derived from medical records. Data on costs were analyzed, and descriptive statistics are reported. A standard multiple regression analysis was performed to identify the main drivers of treatment cost for patients with DFU. RESULTS: The mean treatment cost was €3051. The mean cost of treatment for patients with DFU was significantly higher than that for diabetic patients without this complication. The most relevant predictors of the costs of treatment for patients with DFU were surgery provided and length of stay in hospital. CONCLUSIONS: The cost for treatment of DFU by a multidisciplinary team in the federal medical institution was substantially higher than basic medical insurance tariff for this disease. Because revascularization procedures appeared to be the main cost driver, our results stress the need for careful implementation of this type of treatment for patients with DFU.