Effect of a German Poison Control Center on health care cost reductions in harmless exposure cases.

To evaluate the effect of a German Poison Control Center (PCC) service on health care cost reduction in cases of harmless exposures, a prospective telephone survey of 200 callers were asked which medical aid would have been sought if no PCC service had been available. Calculation of savings was based on the total number of calls and standardized fees for medical treatment. Savings in costs for health insurance in these cases was 20 to 50% of the annual PCC budget. The cost effectiveness of this German PCC for this patient group was lower than for North American PCCs. Cost effectiveness might be improved by making efforts to increase the number of public calls.