Our specialist, health economics team are working to understand the current costs of ICU care for critical illness in Vietnam and quantify the cost-effectiveness of the devices and interventions VITAL develops.

Leads: Hugo Turner, Trinh Manh Hung

The costs of ICU care of patients with critical illness are rising quickly in Vietnam, but there are limited data. We will investigate the current costs of providing ICU care in Vietnam. We will account not only for the costs incurred by the health system but also by the patients; including their out of pocket costs and productivity costs (the value of the productivity losses that result from illness, treatment, or premature death). The costs will be collected based on the hospital’s electronic billing system, and by interviews will hospital staff and patients.

We will also estimate what the costs of ICU care would be when using these new devices, accounting for the cost of the devices, and their maintenance. By comparing these to the costs of the current ICU care, we will be able to evaluate if using these new devices would generate cost savings.