ICU, or intensive care unit. In all hospital wards, it seems to be a maverick existence, full of mystery. Because most of the patients admitted to it are in critical condition, and the ward is almost isolated from the outside world, it often leaves a mysterious and fearful impression. This is very close to death, but also very close to the rebirth of the place. The difference between one wall and the other is often life and death. In many people's consciousness, ICU will also be linked to another word - "high price".
One month's salary hardly lasts a day
Outside the entrance of ICU wards, we can see many family members waiting anxiously, crying, and even staying awake at the door. The survey shows: patients in the ICU in a day spend about 2000-20000 yuan, more between 6000-10000 yuan. Most people in ordinary working families, parents or children a month's salary, not enough to pay the patient a day of treatment costs, a disease back to poverty, in the ICU has become common. In such a special scene, they are quite heavy-hearted, on the one hand, it is difficult to bear the pain of their loved one's dying life, on the other hand, it is difficult to bear the weight of ICU treatment costs.
Mr. Deng said, "Now we are in a dilemma, the newborn baby was admitted to the ICU from the beginning of July, the baby choked on the breastfeeding, and was found to have blackened limbs. Now rely on the ventilator to maintain life, now has spent more than three hundred thousand, after the exhaustion of savings, sold the old family home, still feel that the treatment cost is a "bottomless pit"." Indeed, living in the ICU ward, patients need to pay high medical expenses every day.
Medical staff in the rescue of patients
Why are ICU charges so high?
Hardware is expensive
ICU wards are equipped with a lot of medical equipment that is not available in ordinary wards, and these advanced equipment and instruments can provide more advanced life support for critically ill patients. There is a central monitoring system, philipMX500 monitor, each equipped with a basic monitoring module, dual invasive blood pressure, in addition to the PICCO module, end-expiratory carbon dioxide detection module, transit monitor, ventilator, Baxter Kimball Prisma Flex hemofilter , photoelectric biphasic wave defibrillator, 12-guide electrocardiograph, micro-injector pumps, infusion pumps, rapid glucose meter, air bag Pressure monitoring meter, subcooling therapeutic instrument, warming instrument, Roche blood gas analyzer, chest vibration sputum expectorator, limb pneumatic compression therapy instrument, bed linen meta-disinfector and so on.
Emergency medicines are expensive
ICU infected patients need to use expensive high-grade antibiotics to fight infection, in addition to a variety of symptomatic drugs, drug costs will be very high, and patients need to use blood products, which is also very expensive. There are many items and imported drugs are not in the health insurance reimbursement, ICU patients imported drugs are used frequently, the price is expensive, become a heavy burden on the patient's family.
Patient's condition is changing rapidly and needs to be rescued in time
Because of the rapid changes in the condition, in addition to real-time monitoring, doctors also need to know what's going on in the patient's body at any time, and patients living in the ICU are facing frequent checkups. All kinds of blood and biochemical indicators are often checked repeatedly within a day. The high intensity of the medical staff's shifts and the many resuscitations of patients also contribute to the high costs. Heavy patients often need to be resuscitated in the ICU due to their unstable condition, and sometimes they need to undergo tracheotomy on the spot.
Charges are standardized
Because of the limitations of the health insurance reimbursement catalog, the ICU in the rescue of patients, the use of drugs and treatments, often can not get reimbursed by the health insurance, and 30% to 40% of the patients, often due to the poverty of their families, and chose to sign to give up the treatment, in the general ward, "waiting for death". However, the ICU charges are standardized, and not casually raised by the hospital. At present, ICU charges are unified by the provincial and municipal regulations. on October 1, 2006, the Guangdong Provincial Bureau of Prices, Guangdong Provincial Department of Health jointly issued the "central, military, armed police, provincial non-profit medical institutions in Guangzhou medical service prices" new standards began to be implemented, due to the ICU guardianship, treatment costs are high, and become the focus of the management of fees, for the operation of the various charges have a strict and detailed norms and corresponding instructions. norms, and there are corresponding instructions.
Every patient sent to the ICU ward carries the family's concern and expectations, the ward, the patient's efforts to survive, the medical staff is all-out rescue. The life is priceless, but to save the life needs to use money.