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Costs in the ICU include labor, materials, equipment and indirect costs from other departments. Intelligent ventilators can influence costs in a number of ways: - Reduce the time a patient spends on the ventilator
- Reduce time needed for training of ICU staff
- Reduce ventilator interactions required by ICU staff (reduces the time the clinician spends on the ventilator)
Perhaps most importantly, intelligent ventilators can help shorten the time a patient spends on the ventilator by providing innovative diagnostic and therapeutic tools.
In the USA, each day on the ventilator costs an additional $1500 (Dasta JF et al. Crit Care Med. 2005 Jun;33(6):1266-71). In addition, cost effects of length of stay are amplified by the risk of VAP. A study showed that avoiding just one case of VAP can save up to $55,000 (Memorial Hermann Hospital, Houstan, Texas. Cocanour CS et al. Surg Infect. 2005 Spring;6(1):65-72).
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