Comorbidities and Factors Determining Medical Expenses and Length of Stay for Admitted COVID-19 Patients in Korea

No previous investigations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have estimated medical expenses, length of stay, or factors influencing them using administrative datasets. This study aims to fill this research gap for the Republic of Korea, which has over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Using the...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Risk management and healthcare policy 2021-01, Vol.14, p.2021-2033
Main Authors: Jang, Su Yeon, Seon, Jeong-Yeon, Yoon, Seok-Jun, Park, So-Youn, Lee, Seung Heon, Oh, In-Hwan
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Cardiovascular disease
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
comorbidities
Comorbidity
Coronaviruses
COVID-19
Health insurance
Hospital patients
Hydroxychloroquine
Hypertension
Investigations
length of stay in hospital
medical costs
Medical research
Medicine, Experimental
Original Research
republic of korea
Ritonavir
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Summary:No previous investigations of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have estimated medical expenses, length of stay, or factors influencing them using administrative datasets. This study aims to fill this research gap for the Republic of Korea, which has over 10,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases. Using the nationwide health insurance claims data of 7590 confirmed COVID-19 patients, we estimated average medical expenses and inpatient days per patient, and performed multivariate negative binomial, and gamma regressions to determine influencing factors for higher outcomes. According to the results, COVID-19 patients with history of ICU admission, chest CT imaging, lopinavir/ritonavir and hydroxychloroquine use stayed longer in the hospital and spent more on medical expenses, and anti-hypertensive drugs were insignificantly associated with the outcomes. Female patients stayed longer in the hospital in the over 65 age group but spent less in medical expenses that the 20-39 group. In the 40-69 age group, patients with health insurance stayed longer in the hospital and spent more on medical expenses than those aged over 65 years. Comorbidities did not affect outcomes in most age groups. In summary, contrary to popular beliefs, medical expenses and length of hospitalization were mostly influenced by age, and not by comorbidities, anti-viral, or anti-hypertensive drugs. Thus, responses should focus on infection prevention and control rather than clinical countermeasures.
ISSN:1179-1594
1179-1594
DOI:10.2147/rmhp.s292538