Cost Comparison of In-Suite Versus Portable Tunneled Femoral Central Line Placements in Children Using Time-Driven Activity-Based Costing.

Objective: Compare the cost of placing tunneled femoral central lines in the interventional radiology suite to portable bedside placement using time-driven activity-based costing.

Methods: Detailed process maps were created using information generated from interviews with frontline staff, direct shadowing of patient procedures (19 patients-8 in-suite, 11 portable; patient age 4 days to 37 months; 6 males, 13 females), and electronic medical record review (80 patients-44 in-suite, 36 portable; patient age 1 day to 20 months; 42 males, 38 females) who underwent a tunneled femoral central line placement at a tertiary care pediatric hospital from January 1, 2018, to June 30, 2018. Procedures were conducted in-suite using fluoroscopy guidance or portably at the patient's bedside using ultrasound.