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Cost Benefits of the Drug and Poison Information Centre in Preventing Unnecessary Hospitalisation: The Singapore Experience

Background The Drug and Poison Information Centre (DPIC) in Singapore was piloted as a new service in April 2004. This study evaluated the cost benefits of its interventions in the first two years of its operation. Method A two-year retrospective review of DPIC call records was performed and the following outcome measures were noted: (A) proportion of patients who were managed onsite and hence did not need to attend the emergency department (ED); and (B) proportion of patients who were managed in the ED without the need for admission. Cost savings were calculated based on admission costs for patients with poisoning, including other out-of-hospital costs. This amounted to savings of S$1390 and S$1170 for patients who fulfilled outcome measures A and B respectively. Savings for the hospital was S$1477 per case. The cost of operating the DPIC over the same period was S$507,922. Results There were 831 calls on acute toxic exposures over the study period. Of these, 115 and 405 patients fulfilled outcome measure A and B respectively with consequent cost savings of S$159,850 (115 x S$1390 per patient), and S$473,850 (405 x S$1170 per patient). The hospitals saved S$768,040 (520 x S$1477) from prevented admissions. Excluding operating cost, this gave net savings of S$893,818 over the two years from DPIC interventions. Conclusion The cost savings from DPIC services is evident from this study. This translates to more effective use of limited healthcare resources.