Abstract
Asthma is an ambulatory care-sensitive condition (ACSC). With effective ambulatory
care, this condition need not necessitate hospital admission. Avoiding disease exacerbation
and hospital admission of asthma sufferers can save health-care costs and improve
the quality of life of those affected. This study was aimed at determining the cost of
asthma treatment, either outpatient or inpatient, in order to obtain basic information for
asthma administration in the hospital. This was a retrospective and descriptive study using a prevalence-based approach.
The cost was calculated by a bottom-up method from a provider’s perspective. Those
eligible to participate in the study were either outpatient or inpatient asthmatics at
Prankratai Hospital, a 60-bed community hospital. Occurrences of asthma were identified
using the International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems,
10th Revision (ICD-10) codes J45 and J46. The data were collected from an electronic
database.
The cost of treating asthma consisted of nebulization (28.85%), medication (26.28%),
hospitalization (25.76%), outpatient visit (14.64%), oxygen therapy (2.97%), and x-ray
(1.50%). The average cost was 1,424.19 baht per patient per year. The average cost of
outpatient and inpatient treatment was 742 and 3,580 baht per patient per year, respectively.
During the study period, one-fifth of the asthmatic patients were admitted, but
accounted for about half of the total cost of all treatment.
Hospitalization comprised a considerable cost for treating asthma. To improve
asthma management and control, hospital administrators should establish simple asthma
clinics, develop guidelines, and encourage greater participation in asthma care by a broader
range of health-care professionals and not just doctors. Such initiatives are predictably
likely to decrease admission rates and the burden on health-care costs.
