tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Open Forum Infect Dis
. 2021 Dec 20;8(12)
fab561.
doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab561. eCollection 2021 Dec.
Estimation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalization Costs From a Large Electronic Administrative Discharge Database, March 2020-July 2021
Sundar S Shrestha[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lyudmyla Kompaniyets[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Scott D Grosse[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Aaron M Harris[SUP] 4 [/SUP], James Baggs[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Kanta Sircar[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Adi V Gundlapalli[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
Abstract
Background: Information on the costs of inpatient care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is very limited. This study estimates the per-patient cost of inpatient care for adult COVID-19 patients seen at >800 US hospitals.
Methods: Patients aged ≥18 years with ≥1 hospitalization during March 2020-July 2021 with a COVID-19 diagnosis code in a large electronic administrative discharge database were included. We used validated costs when reported; otherwise, costs were calculated using charges multiplied by cost-to-charge ratios. We estimated costs of inpatient care per patient overall and by severity indicator, age, sex, underlying medical conditions, and acute complications of COVID-19 using a generalized linear model with log link function and gamma distribution.
Results: The overall cost among 654673 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was $16.2 billion. Estimated per-patient hospitalization cost was $24 826. Among surviving patients, estimated per-patient cost was $13 090 without intensive care unit (ICU) admission or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), $21 222 with ICU admission alone, and $59 742 with IMV. Estimated per-patient cost among patients who died was $27 017. Adjusted cost differential was higher among patients with certain underlying conditions (eg, chronic kidney disease [$12 391], liver disease [$8878], cerebrovascular disease [$7267], and obesity [$5933]) and acute complications (eg, acute respiratory distress syndrome [$43 912], pneumothorax [$25 240], and intracranial hemorrhage [$22 280]).
Conclusions: The cost of inpatient care for COVID-19 patients was substantial through the first 17 months of the pandemic. These estimates can be used to inform policy makers and planners and cost-effectiveness analysis of public health interventions to alleviate the burden of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cost; hospitalization; severity.
. 2021 Dec 20;8(12)
fab561.doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofab561. eCollection 2021 Dec.
Estimation of Coronavirus Disease 2019 Hospitalization Costs From a Large Electronic Administrative Discharge Database, March 2020-July 2021
Sundar S Shrestha[SUP] 1 [/SUP], Lyudmyla Kompaniyets[SUP] 2 [/SUP], Scott D Grosse[SUP] 3 [/SUP], Aaron M Harris[SUP] 4 [/SUP], James Baggs[SUP] 5 [/SUP], Kanta Sircar[SUP] 6 [/SUP], Adi V Gundlapalli[SUP] 4 [/SUP]
Affiliations
- PMID: 34938822
- PMCID: PMC8686820
- DOI: 10.1093/ofid/ofab561
Abstract
Background: Information on the costs of inpatient care for patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is very limited. This study estimates the per-patient cost of inpatient care for adult COVID-19 patients seen at >800 US hospitals.
Methods: Patients aged ≥18 years with ≥1 hospitalization during March 2020-July 2021 with a COVID-19 diagnosis code in a large electronic administrative discharge database were included. We used validated costs when reported; otherwise, costs were calculated using charges multiplied by cost-to-charge ratios. We estimated costs of inpatient care per patient overall and by severity indicator, age, sex, underlying medical conditions, and acute complications of COVID-19 using a generalized linear model with log link function and gamma distribution.
Results: The overall cost among 654673 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 was $16.2 billion. Estimated per-patient hospitalization cost was $24 826. Among surviving patients, estimated per-patient cost was $13 090 without intensive care unit (ICU) admission or invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), $21 222 with ICU admission alone, and $59 742 with IMV. Estimated per-patient cost among patients who died was $27 017. Adjusted cost differential was higher among patients with certain underlying conditions (eg, chronic kidney disease [$12 391], liver disease [$8878], cerebrovascular disease [$7267], and obesity [$5933]) and acute complications (eg, acute respiratory distress syndrome [$43 912], pneumothorax [$25 240], and intracranial hemorrhage [$22 280]).
Conclusions: The cost of inpatient care for COVID-19 patients was substantial through the first 17 months of the pandemic. These estimates can be used to inform policy makers and planners and cost-effectiveness analysis of public health interventions to alleviate the burden of COVID-19.
Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; cost; hospitalization; severity.