Paying for care
The cost conversation belongs on day one, not at discharge.
Critical care and dialysis are expensive, and families cope far better when they understand the shape of the cost early rather than discovering it week by week. We would rather have an uncomfortable conversation at the beginning than an impossible one at the end.
What drives the cost
Where the money actually goes
Nursing ratio
Intensive care is defined by having far more nursing hours per patient than any ward. That staffing is the single largest component of the daily cost, and it is also the thing that makes the unit work.
Organ support
A ventilator, drip medication to support blood pressure, and dialysis each add equipment and monitoring. A patient on all three costs considerably more per day than one on none.
Drugs and consumables
Antibiotics, sedation, blood products, lines, filters, circuits and dialysers. Dialysis in particular consumes a new set of disposables at every session.
Investigations
Critically ill patients are tested frequently because the picture changes hourly. Blood gases, biochemistry, cultures and imaging accumulate.
How we quote
We quote rather than publish a rate card, because the honest figure for intensive care depends on the level of support a patient actually needs, and that changes day to day. A patient breathing on their own under observation and a patient on a ventilator with dialysis and vasopressors are not the same cost, and pretending otherwise sets families up for a shock.
What we will do is give you the current daily figure on admission, tell you what would move it in either direction, and update you when it changes. Dialysis is quoted per session so you can plan a week and a month with real numbers.
HMO cover
What insurance typically does and does not do
Most Nigerian HMO plans cover intensive care and dialysis to a defined limit rather than without ceiling. Once that limit is reached the balance falls to the family, and the limit is frequently reached faster in critical care than anywhere else in medicine.
Pre authorisation is normally required. In an emergency we treat first and pursue authorisation afterwards, because delaying treatment for paperwork is not something we are prepared to do. That does mean the claim position needs sorting quickly once the patient is stable.
Bring the enrolee number and plan details as early as you can, and we will establish the position rather than leaving you to discover it later.
Planning
The questions to ask us on day one
- What is the daily cost at the current level of support?
- What would change that figure, up or down?
- What is covered by our HMO and what is the limit?
- What deposit is required and how is the balance settled?
- For dialysis, what is the weekly cost including medication?
- Is transplantation a realistic option, and how would that compare over time?
Next step
If you need a bed tonight, call. We will tell you straight away.
The unit is staffed at every hour. Referring clinicians should call before transferring a patient so availability can be confirmed and the team can be ready on arrival.