2 research outputs found
Hospitalization budget impact during the COVID-19 pandemic in Spain
To Mrs. Anne Murray for her support to translate the manuscript. This article
is part of the doctoral thesis of Laura Álvarez as part of the Doctoral Program
in Pharmacy, Granada University (Spain).Objectives: The aim was to determine the direct impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Spain’s health budget.
Methods: Budget impact analyses based on retrospective data from patients with suspected severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) admitted to a Spanish hospital between February 26 and May 21,
2020. Direct medical costs from the perspective of the hospital were calculated. We analyzed diagnostic tests,
drugs, medical and nursing care, and isolation ward and ICU stays for three cohorts: patients seen in the
emergency room only, hospitalized patients who tested positive for SARS-CoV-2, and patients who tested negative.
Results: The impact on the hospital’s budget for the 3 months was calculated at €15,633,180, 97.4% of which was
related to health care and hospitalization. ICU stays accounted for 5.3% of the total costs. The mean cost per
patient was €10,744. The main costs were staffing costs (10,131 to 11,357 €/patient for physicians and 10,274 to
11,215 €/patient for nurses). Scenario analysis showed that the range of hospital expenditure was between
€14,693,256 and €16,524,924. The median impact of the pandemic on the Spanish health budget in the sensitivity
analysis using bootstrapped individual data was €9357 million (interquartile range [IQR], 9071 to 9689) for the
conservative scenario (113,588 hospital admissions and 11,664 ICU admissions) and €10,385 million (IQR, 110,030 to
10,758) for the worst-case scenario (including suspected cases).
Conclusion: The impact of COVID-19 on the Spanish public health budget (12.3% of total public health
expenditure) is greater than multiple sclerosis, cancer and diabetes cost