Costs after Diagnosis of COVID-19 in Beneficiaries of a Telemedicine Service from a Healthcare Provider in Southern Brazil: A Real-World Study
Author(s)
Lind J1, Netto H2, Aguiar BF1, Böger B3, Santos J1, Ramos MP1, Rocha J2
1Unimed Curitiba, Curitiba, Brazil, 2Unimed Curitiba, Curitiba, PR, Brazil, 3Universidade Federal do Paraná, Curitiba, Brazil
The aim of this study was to analyze all costs of beneficiaries appointmented in a telemedicine service of a health care provider in the State of Paraná- Brazil. We performed a real-world, retrospective chart review using data from the health insurance company database (South region in Brazil) to identify patients with COVID-19 who performed a medical consult by the telemedicine service between May 2020 and May 2021, until 12 months after diagnosis of Covid-19. Demographic, clinical data and costs (currency quote: US$ 1= R$ 5.69) of exams and treatments/hospitalization were extracted. Descriptive statistics were conducted with results reported as percentage. A total of 195 patients tested positive for Covid-19, 7 were excluded because they had no recorded costs, so we included 188 patients who used the telemedicine service during the period. Of these, 61.70% (n=116) patients were female and 29.8% (n=56) were between 31 and 40 years old. The average cost per patient after Covid-19 was USD 1,594.02 (total USD 322,784.17). 9% (n=17) of the patients required hospitalization, and of these 41.2% (n=7) were hospitalized from 1 to 7 days. Most of resources were consumed during the second quarter of 2021 with post-Covid-19 patients (USD 157,663.41). In addition, among the expenditure, the most used specialty was the general hospital, begetting a cost of USD 134,131.57 in the period. There is a high economic impact for health care providers after diagnosis of Covid-19, it may be associated to the late symptoms and complications of the disease, and that this can impact both private and public health. The knowledge of costs after Covid-19 and its consequences in different population profiles can help in the development of a comprehensive approach for better decision-making and strategic planning in the organization of care networks and the programming of health actions.
Conference/Value in Health Info
2022-05, ISPOR 2022, Washington, DC, USA
Value in Health, Volume 25, Issue 6, S1 (June 2022)
Code
EE11
Topic
Economic Evaluation
Disease
Respiratory-Related Disorders