PURPOSE
The purpose of this study was to compare the costs and benefits of home nursing care services between public health centers (PHC) and private hospitals.
METHOD
Participants were 105 patients who had received home nursing care services from a private hospital or public health center. From a societal perspective, the researcher identified the costs and benefits of the services using performance data and calculated the net benefit and benefit/cost ratio.
RESULT
The net benefit of the home nursing care service based in the PHC was 165.9 million won and benefit/cost ratio was 2.0, while the net benefit of the home nursing care services by the private hospital was 141.1 million won and benefit/cost ratio was 1.7. Both types of programs were economically validated.
CONCLUSION
Home nursing care services were basically efficient as the results showed a positive net benefit. A cost-benefit analysis indicated that the PHC-based home nursing care services were more efficient than that of the private hospital. With limited human resources and management standards in public health centers, results suggest the need for a more systematic management of the home nursing care service to improve the health of this vulnerable community population.

Citations

• Systematic Review and Quality Assessment of Health Economic Evaluation Studies (2007–2019) Conducted in South Korea
  Sunghyun Yi, Jihyung Hong, Haemin Yoon, You-na Lim, Eun-Young Bae
  Applied Health Economics and Health Policy.2022; 20(6): 819.     CrossRef

PURPOSE
This study was conducted to evaluate the economic efficiency of a community-based nursing care center to help policy makers determine whether or not to invest in similar facilities.
METHODS
The subjects were 101 elderly people over 65 years who participated in a health management program from February 1 to July 31, 2007. Direct cost was estimated with center operations cost, medical cost for out-patients and pharmacy cost. Indirect cost was measured by transportation cost. Direct benefit was calculated by saved medical cost for out-patients, saved pharmacy cost, saved transportation cost, and reducing hospital charges. Indirect benefit was estimated with prevention of severe complications. Economic efficiency was evaluated by cost-benefit ratio and net benefit.
RESULTS
Operating a community-based nursing care center was found to be cost-effective. Specifically, the cost of operating the center evaluated here was estimated at 135 million won while the benefit was estimated at 187 million won. Benefit-cost ratio was 1.38.
CONCLUSION
The Community-based nursing care center that was described here could be a useful health care delivery system for reducing medical expenditures.

Citations

• Cost-Benefit Analysis of Occupational Therapy in Center for Dementia Based on Public Data
  Seung-Hyun Cho, Kyung-Yoon Kam, Sung-Yoon Bae, Nam-Hoon Cho, Hye-Won Oh, Young-Ae Yang
  Journal of Korean Society of Occupational Therapy.2018; 26(2): 99.     CrossRef
• Comparison of Benefit Estimation Models in Cost-Benefit Analysis: A Case of Chronic Hypertension Management Programs
  Ji Young Lim, Mi Ja Kim, Chang Gi Park, Jung Yun Kim
  Journal of Korean Academy of Nursing.2011; 41(6): 750.     CrossRef