Depression care cost in Thai public service settings

Abstract

Objective: This study was to  investigate the service cost of depressed patients in Thai public hospitals.

Materials and methods:  This  retrospective  study was  surveyed  from  the  service providers’ point of views by collecting patients’ data, using only principle diagnosis with ICD-10 code F 32-33, from public hospitals from 2002-2005.

Results: There were 988 public psychiatric hospitals in Thailand, but only 13-17 were registered under the public health department. In addition, our study revealed that  there were 2,490 depressive disorders inpatients cases each year, having material cost and full cost of 2,496 and 8,737 Baht per case or 149 and 457 Baht per day, respectively. Depressed outpatient accounted for 38,851
cases a year, having material cost and full cost of 73 and 346 Baht per case, respectively. Both aggregate material cost and full cost were 6,607,150 and 25,008,658 Baht per annum, respectively.

Conclusion: The results of this study identified that depressed psychiatric patients accounted for a small portion, compared  to abundant cases reported from previous other studies. Data collection system, data record pattern, service system, and accessibility to services from patients should be developed and improved. The cost of depressed inpatients was comparatively very high to depressed
outpatients therefore minimizing disease and declining severity of disease should be considered as a direction  to alleviate resource losses. We believe  that this study has been useful as a preliminary guide
for planning and determining Thai’s health policy for depressed cases.