Costs of Intensive Care Units and Effective Cost Containment Approaches: A Systematic Review

Objective: Intensive care units are one of the most complex and critical service production areas that incur high levels of resource consumption in hospitals. This study aims to analyze the cost structures of intensive care units, and to examine cost containment strategies that can be implemented in this area. Methods: The study is a systematic literature review, employing the PRISMA flow diagram. The review was carried out in two stages using the Web of Science database, focusing on the cost structures of units and cost reduction strategies. Results: The study synthesized finding from 14 papers to examine the topic. The results of the 10 studies on the cost structure indicated that the cost structures of intensive care units are mostly composed of labor, medical consumables, and equipment expenses. Among the cost control methods, quality improvement, lean management, and value streams were detected to be frequently used approaches.Conclusion: Given that intensive care units are high-cost service areas, it will be beneficial to examine them considering cost management approaches.