Comparative Assessment of Patient Care Expenses among Intensive Care Units of a Tertiary Care Teaching Hospital using Cost Block Method

INTRODUCTION: Intensive care services of a hospital are found to consume major chunk of hospital resources as well draining the savings of patients. Implementing proper control measures facilitates effective functioning of critical care services. AIM: Identify various costs involved in operating Surgical Intensive Care Unit (SICU) and Respiratory Intensive Care Unit (RICU); also find out the running cost of the same. METHODOLOGY: Retrospective data was collected for 12 months period and prospectively through informal interactions with staff. RESULTS: Construction and estate costs of the respective ICU's were found to be high, followed by laboratory charges. Running cost of RICU was found to be more than SICU. CONCLUSION: Costing of intensive care service is essential for controlled operations and to provide efficient patient care.