Day hospitals cheaper but little used in SA
DESPITE spiralling healthcare costs‚ private medical aid patients are not making significant use of well-equipped day hospitals to cut the cost of treatment in South Africa.
Available in this country but almost unheard of‚ there are more than 40 day hospitals which could offer hope for cashstrapped patients who need same-day surgical procedures.
But despite the cost-saving benefits‚ day hospitals – which can be used for surgical procedures from plastic surgery to gynaecological ones – are underused.
Day Hospital Association of South Africa (Dhasa) head Bert von Wiellich said the country was lagging behind the rest of the world.
“But we are experiencing an upswing in patient numbers as crippling cost increases force medical schemes and patients to search for viable alternatives to acute hospital treatments where possible‚” he said.
“Many of these day hospitals are running at occupancies between 30% and 50% and have the capacity to double their volumes.”
Dhasa said there were benefits associated with accessing these facilities‚ including the fact that they offered a safe and less traumatic surgical environment and that healthy patients were not exposed to hospitalacquired infections.
The association said medical aids had accepted and recognised that day hospitals were an important alternative to reduce costs for patients.
Bibi Goss-Ross, of Advanced Health‚ which manages day hospitals in several cities, said: “The compound hospital cost escalation of 15% a year is unaffordable and is not sustainable.”
“But most South Africans are not aware of options available to them which can have a direct bearing on hospital expenses.
“Some 70% of surgical procedures done in acute hospitals can be safely performed in a day surgery facility.”
Day hospitals worldwide are being accessed by millions of patients for surgery that does not require a costly hospital stay.
Goss-Ross said only 13% of all surgical procedures in South Africa – plastic surgery‚ gynaecological‚ general‚ orthopaedics‚ urology‚ dental and ophthalmic procedures – were done in day hospitals, compared with an international figure of 70%.