The economic costs of injury include direct costs to the health care system, and indirect costs to society that result from lost productivity in the workforce.

Costs to the Health System and Society

The total economic cost of injury in British Columbia was $4.3 billion, including $2.7 billion in direct health-care costs and $1.6 billion in indirect costs.

The direct cost translates to an average of $7.4 million per day spent within the health care system. If avoided, these costs have the potential to be allocated to other needs in the system.

Costs by outcome and intent

The total costs in 2018 were:

$462,413 for each injury death
$120,793 for each injury disability
$24,429 for each injury hospitalization
$1,927 for each injury ED visit

Intentional/Inflicted injuries and injuries of undetermined intent had higher costs per outcome for deaths, while unintentional injuries had a higher cost per outcome for injury-related hospitalizations, ED visits, and disabilities.

The figure below depicts total costs in millions for injury outcome by intent of injury, across BC and the Health Authorities.

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Costs by cost type

The total direct costs of injury deaths in 2018 was $59 million, including:

$17 million for funeral costs (29%)
$4 million for coroner or medical examiner costs (7%)
$2 million for ambulance costs (3%)
$0.325 million for emergency department costs (1%)
$31 million for hospital costs for deaths in the hospital (53%)
$5 million for physician costs (8%)

The total direct costs of injury hospitalizations in 2018 was $805 million, including:

$390 million for hospital costs (48%)
$303 million for medical costs (38%)
$25 million for rehabilitation costs (3%)
$72 million for physician costs (9%)
$15 million for ambulance costs (2%)

The total direct costs of injury ED visits in 2018 was $1,185 million, including:

$925 million for medical costs (78%)
$68 million for rehabilitation costs (6%)
$122 million for physician costs (10%)
$70 million for ambulance costs (6%)

The total direct costs of injury disability in 2018 was $652 million, including:

$620 million for short and long term disability as a result of injury hospitalization (95%)
$31 million for short and long term disability as a result of injury ED visits (5%)

The table below depicts total costs, direct costs, and indirect costs in millions for outcome and intent of injury, by cost type, across BC and the Health Authorities.

Costs by intention

The total costs for injury by intent for 2018 were:

$3,828 million for unintentional injuries (89%)
$434 million for intentional/inflicted injuries (10%)
$27 million for undetermined intent (1%)

Unintentional injuries persisted in accounting for the vast majority of costs when direct and indirect costs were examined separately:

$2,558 million in direct costs (95% of all direct costs)
$1,269 million in indirect costs (80% of all indirect costs)

The figure below depicts the proportions of total costs, direct costs, and indirect costs in millions, by intent of injury, across BC and the Health Authorities.