Total costs (€) per patient from NIV initiation to 6 months follow-up
| Group | Home, N=25 | Hospital, N=28 | ||
| Devices | Units | Cost, € | Units | Cost, € |
| BiPAP A30 | 1 | 2500 | 1 | 2500 |
| GPRS unit/Telemonitoring* | – | 19.2 | – | – |
| Dyna-vision† | – | 78 | – | – |
| Initiation period | Units | Cost, € | Units | Cost, € |
| Ward days for NIV initiation, n | – | – | 7.5 (4–15) | 4815 (2568–9630)¶ |
| Nocturnal PtCO2 measurement‡, n/patient | 3 (2.5–4) | 108 (90–144) | 3 (3–4) | 108 (108–144) |
| Ventilatory specialist time directly with the patient, min | 250 (205–323) | 187 (153–241) | 275 (230–314) | 206 (172–235) |
| Telephone contact time (including calls directly after discharge), min | 85 (68–108) | 64 (50–80) | 0 (0–10)¶ | 0 (0–7)¶ |
| Travel time by nurse, min | 405 (262–482) | 303 (196–361) | 0 (0–200)¶ | 0 (0–150)¶ |
| Travel km by nurse | 620 (278–722) | 118 (53–137) | 0 (0–60)¶ | 0 (0–11)¶ |
| Travel km by patient | – | – | 215 (24–327)¶ | 41 (5–62)¶ |
| Follow-up period | Units | Cost, € | Units | Cost, € |
| Nocturnal PtCO2 measurement‡, n/patient | 2 (2–3) | 72 (72–108) | 2 (2–2.75) | 72 (72–99) |
| Ventilatory specialist time directly with the patient, min | 80 (35–168) | 60 (26–125) | 105 (45–146) | 79 (34–109) |
| Telephone contact time, min | 30 (10–65) | 22 (0–135) | 20 (0–44) | 15 (0–82) |
| Travel time by nurse, min | 160 (85–364) | 120 (64–272) | 195 (54–355) | 146 (40–266) |
| Travel km by nurse | 237 (36–600) | 45 (7–114) | 219 (36–496) | 42 (7–94) |
| Travel km by patient | 320 (237–675) | 61 (45–128) | 270 (139–552) | 51 (26–105) |
| Work productivity§ | – | – | – | – |
| Total medical costs | 3709 (3480–4029) | 8406 (7490–9003) | ||
| Total costs (medical and non-medical) | 3768 (3546–4163) | 8537 (7540–9175) | ||
Data are presented as median (IQR) as the distribution of the data was skewed.
*The selling price of the GPRS unit was €480, depreciation of €48 per year; we used 5 units for 25 patients to be initiated in 2 years=€480, that is, in total=€19.20/patient. Running of the GPRS unit was included in this price.
†The Dyna-vision selling price is ~€1000, depreciation of €100 per year; we used 2 devices for 2 years to initiate 25 patients=€400=€16 euro per patient. The Dyna-vision requires a service for the online platform which costs €62/months=€62*25 months=€1550 in total=€62/patient.
‡The transcutaneous monitor selling price is ~€10 868, depreciation of €2604 per year. As these devices are used very frequently in regular care, we estimated that depreciation per night use was €11 (estimated use: 240 nights per year). Additionally, costs for material (sensor/membrane, etc) were estimated at €25, resulting in €36 per measurement.
§Only one patient still had a paid job and therefore, these costs were not taken into account.
¶ P <0.05
BiPAP, bilevel positive airway pressure; NIV, non-invasive ventilation; PtCO2, transcutaneous carbon dioxide.