The cost-effectiveness of upfront point-of-care testing in the emergency department: a secondary analysis of a randomised, controlled trial

Table 4 Costs and time-saving analysis ranked according to net additional cost per patient

	Total Average Group Cost^a (US$ pp)	Difference between costs of POC tests and control (US$ pp)	Time Saved – Difference between control group time and POC group time (min)	Staffing costs saved (US$ pp)	ICER - Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio (US$ / min)	Net additional cost per patient in POC group (US$ pp)
CONTROL	81.86	–	–	–	–	–
i-STAT + CBC	82.86	1.00	31	23.21	0.03	−22.21
ECG ONLY	75.96	−5.90	9	6.74	−0.65	−12.63
i-STAT + CBC + ECG	90.73	8.87	26	19.47	0.34	−10.60
i-STAT	92.59	10.73	21	15.72	0.51	−4.99
i-STAT + ECG	95.36	13.50	21	15.72	0.64	−2.22
ECG + LODOX	127.48	45.62	25	18.72	1.82	26.90
i-STAT + ECG + LODOX	143.11	61.25	32	23.96	1.91	37.29
ALL POC TESTS	144.10	62.24	31	23.21	2.01	39.03
i-STAT + LODOX	142.56	60.70	25	18.72	2.43	41.98
i-STAT + CBC + LODOX	146.74	64.88	27	20.22	2.40	44.67
LODOX ONLY	142.09	60.23	9	6.74	6.69	53.49

$ Costs shown in US dollars for each permutation
A negative number indicates a lower cost with the POC test permutation than traditional diagnostic testing
CBC Complete Blood Count, ECG electrocardiogram, ICER incremental cost effectiveness ratio, i-STAT i-STAT POC tests, LODOX® Low-dose x-ray, pp per patient
^aThese are the average total actual costs that were incurred for the patients in each permutation. In the Control group, the only tests that were included were those selected by the doctors as they saw fit. In other groups, the average costs appear to be higher than would be expected as extra diagnostic tests may have been performed in those groups over and above those which were assigned (e.g. additional blood tests such as serum amylase or lipase). This principle extends across each of the groups

ISSN: 1757-7241