The Costs of Hospital Waiting Lists

Summary Hospital waiting lists impose costs on society. These waiting lists could be eliminated by either increasing the price of the healthcare product to the patient or by increasing the capacity of the hospital. However, reducing the waiting list to zero is hardly defendable on distributional grounds in the first case and for reasons of efficiency in the second. This study estimated the economic burden of hospital waiting lists. All 149 patients waiting for knee-joint prosthetic replacement at Umeå University Hospital in December 1991 were sent a questionnaire by mail containing questions related to the costs which may appear as a result of a patient’s waiting. Ultimately, 130 patients were included in the study. The patients in the waiting list had an average of 5.5 months left until their operation with a cost of SEK9290 during that time, i.e. SEK1740 to 2000 per month, due to their knee-joint problems. Over 60% of these costs were indirect costs (loss of production for patients and their relatives) and almost 30% were costs for home help. Drugs accounted for less than 5% of total costs. The most influential factors affecting costs were found to be the patient’s age and marital status.