Abstract
BackgroundStudies into the costs of syndromic surveillance systems are rare, especially for estimating the direct costs involved in implementing and maintaining these systems. An Integrated Surveillance System in rural China (ISSC project), with the aim of providing an early warning system for outbreaks, was implemented; village clinics were the main surveillance units. Village doctors expressed their willingness to join in the surveillance if a proper subsidy was provided. This study aims to measure the costs of data collection by village clinics to provide a reference regarding the subsidy level required for village clinics to participate in data collection.MethodsWe conducted a cross-sectional survey with a village clinic questionnaire and a staff questionnaire using a purposive sampling strategy. We tracked reported events using the ISSC internal database. Cost data included staff time, and the annual depreciation and opportunity costs of computers. We measured the village doctors’ time costs for data collection by multiplying the number of full time employment equivalents devoted to the surveillance by the village doctors’ annual salaries and benefits, which equaled their net incomes. We estimated the depreciation and opportunity costs of computers by calculating the equivalent annual computer cost and then allocating this to the surveillance based on the percentage usage.ResultsThe estimated total annual cost of collecting data was 1,423 Chinese Renminbi (RMB) in 2012 (P25 = 857, P75 = 3284), including 1,250 RMB (P25 = 656, P75 = 3000) staff time costs and 134 RMB (P25 = 101, P75 = 335) depreciation and opportunity costs of computers.ConclusionsThe total costs of collecting data from the village clinics for the syndromic surveillance system was calculated to be low compared with the individual net income in County A.
Highlights
Studies into the costs of syndromic surveillance systems are rare, especially for estimating the direct costs involved in implementing and maintaining these systems
The purpose of this paper is to measure the costs of data collection by village clinics for the syndromic surveillance system in the ISSC project, and to provide a reference regarding the subsidy level required for village clinics to participate in data collection
Characteristics of the investigated village clinics and village doctors During the period of the survey, the total population covered by all 56 village clinics was 109,490, and the total number of village doctors was 123
Summary
Studies into the costs of syndromic surveillance systems are rare, especially for estimating the direct costs involved in implementing and maintaining these systems. This study [1] excluded the costs incurred during the process of data collection at hospitals because those hospitals routinely collected the data elements in their electronic information system; some other syndromic surveillance systems may require substantial resources to be devoted to data collection In these cases, the costs of data collection should be explored in order to arrive at comprehensive costs for implementing and maintaining these surveillance systems. An Integrated Surveillance System in rural China (ISSC project), which integrated the functions of a syndromic surveillance system into the existing infectious disease surveillance system in China, was established and implemented from April 2012 to March 2014 with village clinics as the major surveillance units [2] The aim of this project was to improve early warning for infectious disease outbreaks in rural China and it required additional effort in data collection at village clinics. Our hypothesis was that this surveillance was labor intensive and that the costs of data collection for the implementation of the surveillance would not be negligible for those village clinics
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