Patient cost and treatment unit cost comparison in the VELO-Study

Background/Objectives: Two community mental health centers (CMHCs) in rural Norway are being compared in the overarching VELO-study based on their differing organization. While the Vesterålen CMHC has 20 fully staffed psychiatric beds, the Lofoten CMHC has only outpatient units. Both CMHCs use inpatient resources at the county's central mental hospital. Thus, the Vesterålen CMHC is denoted a local-bed model versus a central-bed model at Lofoten CMHC. Characteristics of the communities served by the CMHCs are comparable. The objective of this study is to compute comparable patient costs through computing unit cos…