False economies in home-based parenteral antibiotic treatment: A health-economic case study of management of lower-limb cellulitis in Australia

Abstract

Objectives: The majority of healthcare costs accrued managing cellulitis can be attributed to the small proportion of patients treated with parenteral antibiotics. Hospital in the home (HITH) instead of or following initial inpatient treatment is a safe and effective alternative, but there are few data evaluating its cost-effectiveness for cellulitis. Patients and methods: Our retrospective cohort study included all treatment episodes (by either HITH or an inpatient service for >24 h) with an ICD-10 primary diagnosis code of lower-leg cellulitis at a tertiary-level health service in Melbourne, Australia over 12 months (2012-13). Data included demography, social factors and ICD-10 codes mappe..