J Korean Acad Nurs Adm.  2010 Dec;16(4):409-418.

An Economic Evaluation of the Home Nursing Care Services: Public Health Center Versus Private Hospital

• Kim J
• Lee IS
• Joo MK

Abstract

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.

Keyword

Cost-benefit Analysis; Home Nursing Care; Public Health Center; Home Health Care

MeSH Terms

Cost-Benefit Analysis
Home Nursing
Hospitals, Private
Humans
Public Health

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  Figure 1 Framework

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