Cost effectiveness of tympanic thermometry in the pediatric office setting.

This study was designed to see if tympanic thermometry might be more cost effective than cheaper more traditional methods of thermometry when office staff time saved is taken into account. There were 224 patients enrolled from three private pediatric practices. Patients were alternately assigned to have their temperature taken with either a tympanic thermometer or with a rectal or oral thermometer depending on the patient's age. For each child enrolled in the study a nurse was asked to time the temperature taking process. Items included in the cost analysis: a) thermometer costs; b) disposable supply costs; c) personnel costs; d) equipment service costs. The mean duration of temperature taking was 35.2 seconds using tympanic thermometers, 73.4 seconds using electronic predictive thermometers, and 247.2 seconds using glass thermometers. In practices taking an average of 10 temperatures per day, tympanic thermometry saved $2,316/year when compared to glass thermometers and $442/year when compared to electronic predictive thermometers. The data presented in this study show that when nursing time is taken into account, tympanic thermometry is less expensive to perform than traditional methods of thermometry despite the initial higher cost of the thermometer.