Annals of the University of Oradea: Economic Science (Jul 2015)
THE ECONOMIC IMPACT OF THE DIGESTIVE DISEASES ACROSS THE EU MEMBER STATES. THE COSTS ANALYSIS IN CHOLECYSTECTOMY
Abstract
United European Gastroenterology provide wide studies and researches on the economic impact of the digestive diseases across the countries that are members of the European Union, very useful in planning health services, in making the case for investment in research where there are clear gaps in knowledge, and in reflecting the economic differences across the EU member states in the funding available to support health services. These studies reflect that there are important disparities in the accessibility to high-quality healthcare even among the industrialized countries. Out of all the digestive diseases, the gallstone disease is one of the most common and expensive of the health problems, in industrialized countries, like those of the European Union are. In general, symptomatic or complicated gallstone disease is treated by cholecystectomy, with surgical removal of the gallbladder. The advent of laparoscopic cholecystectomy has revolutionized the management of the gallstone disease, causing an increase in the rate of cholecystectomies. This study represents an analysis of the hospitalization costs involved by two surgical treatment options: laparoscopic cholecystectomy and open cholecystectomy. The investigation of the costs was done according to the type of intervention chosen and comprised the direct costs of hospitalization, including diagnostic tests and general expenses of medical assistance, pharmaceutical and medical supplies. The results are based on the analysis of the costs of cholecystectomies in the surgical department of the Emergency County Hospital Oradea for the year 2014 (781 cases). The average cost per hospitalized patient was 1.970 RON, lower in patients with laparoscopic cholecystectomy (1.579 RON). The average cost per patient with open cholecystectomy was 55% higher than for laparoscopic surgery (2.442 RON). Even if the laparoscopic operation cost is higher because of the equipment it uses, the reduction of the number of complications and of the average length of hospitalization results in a significant reduction of the hospitalization costs.
