(200) Cost of Illness and Economic Burden of COVID-19 in Private Tertiary Care Hospital

Saturday, August 27, 2022

8:00 AM – 6:00 PM CEST

Location: Hall C

Publication Number: 874

Presenting Author(s)

Rajesh Vilakkathala, MPharm, PhD
– Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Udupi, Karnataka, India

Co-Author(s)

Chaitanyamayee Kalakota
– Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India
Elstin Anbu Raj S
– Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Chandrasekar UK
– Department of General Medicine, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, India
Muralidhar Varma
– Department of Infectious Disease, Kasturba Medical College, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Vijayanarayana Kunhikatta, MPharm, PhD
– Associate Professor, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Mahadev Rao
– Head of Department, Dept. of Pharmacy Practice, Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, Manipal, Karnataka, India
Surulivelrajan M
– Department of Pharmacy Practice, Manipal College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Manipal Academy of Higher Education, India

Background: The occurrence of SARS-CoV-2 at the end of December 2019 in Wuhan, China, has quickly spread in China and several countries, causing a pandemic and a substantial public health issue. Patients with comorbidities are at a higher risk of developing an infection. The increased duration of stay, disease severity increased medical costs on patients, the health care system, and the governments, which can significantly increase the economic burden.

Objectives: To find the economic burden of COVID-19 by the cost of illness method and to distinguish the crucial factors that guide the change of the financial burden due to the infection.

Methods: A retrospective observational study was conducted over six months with 602 patients based on the inclusion criteria in a tertiary care hospital, India. The demographic data of patients and various parameters were recorded. Direct cost details and the payer details were collected from the finance department based on inpatient medical and other bills and receipts. All the charges were categorized, recorded, and assessed using IBM SPSS v.20.

Results: The study showed the mean age was 46.88 ± 17.53 years, with an average stay of 11.59 ± 6.48 days. The severity of the disease has been classified into six criteria namely, asymptomatic, mild, mild to moderate, moderate, moderate to severe, severe. This study showed that 94% of patients had insurance policies to cover the costs. The median total costs of INR 54245, and median payer charges were INR 39531. The pharmacoeconomic evaluation revealed the costs were statistically high with total costs, and the highest correlation (β) was seen for the ventilator charges with 0.341 at p< 0.001.

Conclusions: The analysis showed that ventilator charges, pharmaceutical costs, other procedures, and laboratory charges significantly affected the total costs. The insurance policy/schemes had a considerable role in reducing the costs paid by the patients and, hence, drastically lowering the economic burden.