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Charging for Intensive Care using Direct Nursing Hours as the Cost Marker

The hypothesis that direct nursing hours correlate with the cost of a patient stay in intensive care was tested. One hundred and thirty-nine patients were studied and the data collected included: (a) direct nursing hours applied to each patient; (b) a daily TISS score: (c) a detailed costing of each patient (all costs are shown in N.Z.$). There was a strong correlation between the direct nursing hours and the total cost per patient (r2=0.98) (total cost=54xdirect nursing hours+344). Also a strong correlation existed between the total TISS scores and the total costs per patient (r2=0.96) (total cost=67.13xTISS). Direct nursing hours offer a relatively simple and logical method of allocating costs per patient.