Trauma Center Proposal: Offset Costs

THE PROBLEM

Lee Memorial Health System 's Level II trauma center exists as the only one serving the west coast of the state of Florida . The area served by this center includes five counties , and since its inception in 1993 has experienced considerable growth in the number of trauma victims treated It currently handles over 2000 trauma cases every year . All members of personnel at Lee Memorial are highly trained in the specialized areas of trauma care , making it an institution known for clinical excellence (Lee Memorial , 2006

Lee Memorial is

one of the many trauma centers operating in the red because of the high costs associated with keeping such centers at all times optimally prepared for emergencies (Henline , 2006 . Preparedness is a very costly aspect of trauma centers ' budgets , as such medical professionals as general , neuro- , orthopedic and plastic surgeons , as well as radiologists , cardiologists , anesthesiologists , and other specialists must be kept on staff at all times in the event of an emergency . Trauma centers are involved in the provision of medical assistance while transporting trauma patients to and from their centers and are also involved in accident prevention outreach programs . In addition to staffing expenses , trauma centers place funds into providing for the continued availability of spare resources , such as ICU beds operating rooms , and other medical equipment (Taheri Butz , 2002

Though trauma patients are billed like regular patients , their hidden costs are considerable (Taheri Butz , 2002 . One problem lies in the fact that though trauma patients consume a large quantity of resources used by the trauma care centers of a given hospital , the resources are generally of the same type as used by regular non-trauma patients . These patients are therefore billed in a like manner , though they indirectly incur high levels of additional costs via the need for designated trauma centers to be constantly prepared for emergencies . It is also quite often the case that patients of trauma centers are generally of a lower insurance tier than other patients . This is , as yet , an unexplained phenomenon (2002 , but it has been shown that an average of 11 of Floridians treated in trauma centers are without health insurance (Lee Memorial , 2006

A study carried out by Paul Taheri and David Butz (2002 ) on ten of Florida 's trauma centers demonstrates in detail the nature of their unbillable costs . These are costs that cannot be tied to any one patient , but are inevitably incurred in efforts to keep the center constantly prepared . The costs categories include start-up , on-call coverage for physicians , re-designation , prevention outreach , and miscellaneous

Start-up Costs

Though these are one-time investments , they are generally very large and involves a lengthy process during which the trauma center matures into a self-sustaining entity . Not only does it take years (approximately a decade ) for these centers to optimize their operations , but it also takes that long or longer for their finances to show the substantial levels of growth necessary for the continued operation of the center Start-up costs , therefore , though...