Total costs per patient and costs per item (€)
| Item | PA/MD model (n=1015) | MD model (n=1277) | Difference† | |
| Mean (SD)* | Mean (SD)* | Mean (95% CI) | p Value | |
| Costs associated with principal admission | ||||
| Length of stay | 1780 (1811) | 1421 (1210) | 309 (29 to 588) | 0.030 |
| Non-elective transfer to ICU | 333 (3267) | 182 (1761) | 105 (−262 to 473) | 0.575 |
| Resources used during admission | ||||
| Medication | 344 (848) | 243 (748) | 99 (−9 to −207) | 0.073 |
| Laboratory tests | 107 (168) | 99 (136) | 19 (−16 to 44) | 0.366 |
| Diagnostic tests | 163 (229) | 154 (235) | −1 (−44 to 42) | 0.970 |
| Blood products | 31 (122) | 36 (117) | −12 (−37 to 14) | 0.371 |
| Consultation with healthcare suppliers | ||||
| Medical or surgical consultant | 30 (93) | 19 (47) | 4 (−6 to 13) | 0.437 |
| Paramedics and specialist nurses | 96 (159) | 73 (121) | 14 (−20 to 48) | 0.429 |
| Personnel | ||||
| PA/MD who is primarily responsible for medical care | 71 (29) | 103 (44) | −31 (−33 to −28) | <0.01 |
| Supervision by staff physician | 156 (93) | 129 (104) | 43 (39 to 47) | <0.01 |
| Exclusion of wards with staff physicians only | 156 (93) | 173 (77) | −11 (−16 to −6) | <0.01 |
| Costs occurred during first month after discharge | ||||
| Presentation at emergency department | 108 (182) | 114 (298) | −13 (−45 to 20) | 0.448 |
| Non-elective readmission | 456 (1333) | 421 (1142) | 1 (−89 to 92) | 0.977 |
| Contact with general practitioner | 55 (73) | 53 (70) | 0 (−7 to 7) | 0.923 |
| Required home care | 121 (248) | 98 (214) | 11 (−9 to 30) | 0.275 |
| Total costs | 3480 (5196) | 2869 (3260) | 568 (−254 to 1391) | 0.175 |
*Values are summary estimates obtained by multiple imputation.
†Difference in mean costs per patient in the PA/MD group minus the MD group with bootstrapped 95% CI, adjusted for medical specialty, hospital type, diagnosis, comorbidities, type of admission and discharge destination.
ICU, intensive care unit; MD, medical doctor; PA, physician assistant.